Sri Lanka humiliates England in one-dayer

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (AP) -- England crashed to a humiliating defeat in the first one-day international against Sri Lanka Tuesday, when the home side bowled them out for 88 then went on to score 89 without losing a wicket.

It was England's second-lowest total in a one-day international and only two runs more than its lowest -- against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001. England's run rate was a miserable 1.76 runs per over.

Victory came for the Sri Lankans with ease when the opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana hammered the English bowlers almost at will. Jayasuriya remained not out for 46 with six fours, while Kaluwitharana hit 36 with seven hits to the fence.

Deciding to bat first after winning the toss under overcast conditions, England was in trouble from the off, losing four wickets for 27 runs after 15 overs with the Sri Lankan pace attack slicing through the batting order.

Sri Lanka's debutant bowler Dinusha Fernando, who shared the new ball with Chaminda Vaas, made an immediate impression, dismissing another debutant, Andrew Strauss, for three runs in the fourth over.

Fellow opener Marcus Trescothick followed soon in the seventh over, caught by Nuwan Kulasekera, who was also making his debut for Sri Lanka.

Fernando struck again in the 10th over, bowling skipper Michael Vaughan off the inside edge for two.

Andrew Flintoff -- who remained unbeaten throughout the Bangladeshi series, scoring three consecutive half-centuries _ failed in the face of a stronger attack from left-arm seamer Vaas.

Flintoff, who attempted an off-drive, only succeeded in finding Kumar Sangakkara at extra-cover.

After adding only 10 runs, paceman Nuwan Kulasekera bowled right-handed Rikki Clarke between bat and pads for two. Ian Blackwell became the second victim of Kulasekera when he was caught at point by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Paul Collingwood, who came in as No 4, held on to one end while his partners got out.

His dismissal for 31 in 95 balls came at the total 59, when he gave a return catch to legspinner Upul Chandana.

Champion offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan managed his solitary wicket when he bowled tailender Richard Johnson with a sharp-turning off-break.

The last pair, Ashley Giles and James Anderson, added 21 for the last wicket, avoiding the embarrassment of being bowled out for their lowest-ever one-day score -- a feat greeted by a standing ovation from the English supporters.

However, Mahela Jayawardena's diving catch at first slip off Vaas ended Ashley Giles' innings for 21 in the 47th over.

Vaas bowled best for Sri Lanka, taking three for 15 in 9.1 overs, while Fernando, Kulasekera and Chandana picked up two wickets each.

Even though Sri Lanka's quick innings overshadowed its bowling performance, Sri Lankan skipper Atapattu praised the combined efforts of his team.

"I don't want to take anything away from the bowlers," he said.

"I was worried when I lost the toss, but everything happened for the good," Atapattu said adding that he thought batting under lights in Dambulla would have been difficult.

He praised pace bowlers Fernando and Kulasekera for performing well on their debuts.

"We all knew the potential they had ... we wanted to give them a chance and they've come out beautifully," Atapattu said.

English skipper Vaughan said that his team will bounce back in the next two games, to be played in Colombo.

"We want to make sure that we work hard in the next two days, analyzing the game," he said.