A century by Joe Root lifted England to 309 for six in its World Cup Pool A match against Sri Lanka, with some big hitting near the end helping to make amends for the slow progress during the middle stages of the innings.

Root’s 121 came off 108 balls and included 14 fours and two sixes.

England got off to a flying start in Wellington on Sunday thanks to some good early hitting by Ian Bell (49).

But when Sri Lanka brought on its slower bowlers, England lost momentum, managing to score just 83 runs in 20 overs following the first 10. But in the final 10, England scored at a clip of over 10 per over to take reach a challenging 300-plus total.