MOEEN Ali was England’s only wicket-taker as they suffered a nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in World Cup Pool ‘A’ in Wellington.

The Worcestershire all-rounder accounted for Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (44) when he was caught off a leading edge by skipper Eoin Morgan.

Moeen took 1-50 from 10 overs and was England’s most economical bowler.

But an unbroken stand of 212 in 29 overs between Lahiru Thirimanne (139) and man-of-the-match Kumar Sangakkara (117) saw Sri Lanka through to their target of 310 in the 48th over.

England must now defeat Bangladesh in Adelaide next Monday and Afghanistan in Sydney four days later to seal a quarter-final spot.

Moeen scored 15 off 26 balls with three boundaries and shared in an opening stand of 62 with Ian Bell.

He was dismissed in the 10th over when holing out to Suranga Lakmal off Angelo Matthews.

Joe Root, with 121 off 108 balls, steered England to 309-6 in 50 overs and Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 39. But the Sri Lankans made light work of an imposing target.