Kumar Sangakkara completed his 20th ODI century to help the home team post a healthy total of 292-7. England could only muster 202 in reply, bowled out in less than 42 overs despite a resilient 55 from Joe Root.
The evergreen Sangakkara blazed 112 off as many balls, highlighted by 12 fours and two sixes, after the 37-year-old was dropped on 41 by England captain Alastair Cook.
The Sri Lankans made a slow start, scoring just 27 runs off the first 10 overs, before Sangakkara opened up, putting on 153 with Tillakaratne Dilshan for the second wicket. Dilshan made a patient 68 before Dinesh Chandimal pushed the total towards 300 with a brisk 35 in the closing overs.
Chris Woakes, Steven Finn and Chris Jordan took two wickets each for England, who needed to win the game to square the series heading into Tuesday's final match in Colombo.
"It was a challenging wicket to bat on," said Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews. "I thought Sangakkara was amazing and he and Dilshan set the tone for the batsmen to play at the end. We still want to win the next game as well and win the series 5-2."
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