England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets with Joe Root century to keep series hopes alive

England have kept their series hopes alive after beating Sri Lanka in the fifth one-day international by five wickets.

Heavy rain halted the visitor's fight back on Wednesday 10 December but they reached their target of 240 with five balls left just after lunchtime to close the gap on Sri Lanka, who lead the seven match series 3-2.

The dismissals of openers Alastair Cook (20) and Moeen Ali (4) after just eight overs marked an inauspicious start but Joe Root recorded his third one day century of the year to make England's task all the more easier with an unbeaten 104.

James Taylor (68) also aided the England revival, while Root and Ravi Bopara added 86 to guide their side to a rather comfortable conclusion to the fifth ODI.

Eoin Morgan had time to sweep his first ball wide for a four before he and Root concluded an efficient morning's work, leaving England with a real chance of clawing their way back in the series ahead of the penultimate match on Saturday 13 December.

"We spoke all week about how we wanted to have guys get big scores and be there at the end, so it was great to do that," Root told BBC Sport.

"It's great to see James Taylor play like that without fear, he's done it in domestic cricket for a long time. They were playing some good tunes, so we enjoyed it out there. We tried not to use up too many dot balls but if the boundary option was there, take it - just take the target 10 runs at a time."

Six wickets from Chris Woakes helped dismiss Sri Lanka for 239 before rain ended play on Wednesday.