Jayasuriya, who found form with a scintillating 122 against the Australians last Thursday, clubbed 15 fours and one six during his 110-ball 106.

It was the Sri Lankan captain’s 15th one-day hundred and carried him past 8500 one-day runs.

The left-hander compiled a record 144 run second-wicket partnership against England with veteran all-rounder Hashan Tillakaratne, surpassing the 138 scored by Marvan Atapattu and Romesh Kaluwitharana at Lord’s in 1998.

Tillakaratne, recalled to one-day cricket after Sri Lanka’s dismal performance in the first half of the triangular series, responded well to the responsibility of batting at number three, scoring an adhesive 44 from 74 deliveries.

The pair had started cautiously after the first over loss of Marvan Atapattu, who edged a steeply rising delivery from Caddick to second slip, scoring just 40 runs in the first ten overs.

Both Caddick and James Anderson troubled the Sri Lankan pair with the new ball, extracting variable bounce from the re-used Sydney wicket.

However, the introduction of England’s support bowlers added momentum to the innings as a wayward Steve Harminson leaked 14 runs in his first over, the 12th of the innings.

Left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell was also attacked, conceding 38 runs in his first five overs.

Sri Lanka’s first fifty came from 73 balls but the second came from only 43 as Jayasuriya started to pepper the square boundaries, cutting and pulling freely.. After the dismissal of Tillakaratne, brilliantly caught one-handed by Marcus Trescothick at mid-wicket, Jayasuriya then added a further 55 runs with Aravinda De Silva.

Jayasuriya should have been dismissed on 92 when Harminson spilled a straightforward chance at backward square off a leg-side flick.

The hapless Harminson later dropped Chaminda Vaas in the penultimate over, contributing to a ragged performance by England’s fielders.

After 35 overs Sri Lanka were 197 for two, looking set for a total of 300 plus.

But Jayasuriya soon top-edged a sweep off Ian Blackwell to be caught at short fine leg.

England’s fast bowlers then clawed themselves back into the game, conceding a moderate 87 runs in the final 15 overs.

De Silva marshaled the middle order well with 51 from 58 balls, an innings full all clever deflections and innovative strokes.

Mahela Jaywardene smashed 33 from 30 balls hitting four boundaries in the final overs. Caddick was England’s best bowler, finishing with one for 29 from his allotted 10 overs, but his colleagues were expensive.

And Nasser Hussain, who lambasted his bowlers after England’s seven run defeat against Australia at the weekend, may also be left ruing 31 sundries, including an unacceptable 16 wides.

Jayasuriya, who found form with a scintillating 122 against the Australians last Thursday, clubbed eight fours and a six in his unbeaten 77 from 74 balls.

The Sri Lankan captain compiled an unbroken 139 run partnership with veteran all-rounder Hashan Tillakaratne, who was recalled to the one-day side after the first stage of the series.

The partnership was a record for the second wicket against England, surpassing the 138 scored by Marvan Atapattu and Romesh Kaluwitharana at Lord’s in 1998.

Tillakaratne, playing just his second one-day innings since the 1999 World Cup, dropped anchor whilst Jayasuriya attacked England’s bowlers.

The 34-year-old was unbeaten on 43 from 72 balls having hit five boundaries.

Sri Lanka had started cautiously after winning the toss on a re-used pitch that offered England pacemen Andrew Caddick and James Anderson dangerous bounce with the new ball.

Vice-captain Marvan Atapattu, who also scored a century against the Australians, failed to score before edging a steeply rising delivery from Caddick to Nick Knight at second slip in the first over.

Caddick went on to complete an economical opening spell, conceding just 15 runs in his first seven overs.

With Caddick bowling accurately Sri Lanka scored just 40 runs from the first 10 overs as Tillakaratne played himself in watchfully.

However, the floodgates opened after the introduction of Steve Harminson, England’s fastest bowler, who conceded 14 runs in his first over, including three wides and a Jayasuriya six over backward point.

Sri Lanka’s first fifty came from 73 balls but the second came from only 43 as Jayasuriya started to find the boundary.

The introduction of left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell provided the innings with a added momentum as 38 runs were plundered from the youngster’s first five overs.

During the course of his innings Jayasuriya passed 8500 one-day runs.

Sri Lanka made one change for the eighth match of the series, with Charitha Buddika Fernando coming into the side that defeated Australia by 79 runs in Sydney on December 22.

New ball bowler Pulasthi Gunaratne was left out.

England retained the same eleven that narrowly lost to Australia by seven runs in Hobart over the weekend.

Australia, with 22 points, have already qualified for the triangular finals, leaving England (13 points) and Sri Lanka (7 points) contesting for the final place.

England:

Nasser Hussain (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Alec Stewart, Ian Blackwell, Ronnie Irani, Andrew Caddick, James Anderson, Steve Harminson

Sri Lanka:

Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Chaminda Vaas, Buddika Fernando, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillakaratne