There are some things in life which are just impossible. For me, it's eating a sugar doughnut without licking my lips halfway through. Try it, it's impossible. For Lasith Malinga, it's keeping his sun hat on the minute he starts to run. His bouncy bonnet just doesn't allow for it.

Anyway, the Slinger is back into the attack and begins with four dots to Eoin Morgan before dropping short and being hammered to the square leg boundary sweeper for a single. The only run in the over.

Image source, Getty Images

Andy: Fed up of screaming "get on with it". Turgid pathetic predictable and oh so England.

England 145-3 (30 overs) after winning toss

Batsmen: Root 45, Morgan 17

Fall of wickets: 62-1 (Moeen 15), 71-2 (Ballance 6), 100-3 (Bell 49)

Bowling figures: Malinga 4-0-20-0, Lakmal 5-0-44-1, Mathews 7-1-22-1, Dilshan 8-0-29-1, Herath 1-0-6-0, Perera 4-0-13-0

Full scorecard

Joe Root is living a charmed life today. Perhaps he should put on the lottery. After sweeping Rangana Herath for four, he gets another inside edge which again misses out on disturbing his timbers.

Image source, AP

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"That's what Morgan is good at - striking the ball. He's not so good when he tries to manoeuvre it around."

That's how to do it. Tillakaratne Dilshan finally gets some tap when Eoin Morgan fetches the ball from outside off and hammers it over cow corner for six. Three other singles in the over.

David Perrins: Why is every message quoted on here a negative one? Surely there's some positive messages coming through? Or are us England fans really this negative? Decent position, 300 on the cards!

Eoin Morgan is of that new breed of cricketer. He's got arm muscles which could crack a walnut and shoulders which could lump a wardrobe up seven flights. Yet he still insists on knocking the ball into gaps and looking for ones and twos. Joe Root does find the boundary though when he inside edges past the keeper. We'll take it.

Image source, AP

Henry Ellison:, external Get back, check to see England have scored 60-0 off 9 overs. Turn on the TV and England have hit 60-2 off the next 17. Is it me?!

Zigzag:, external With Matthews going for so few runs. Surely Bopara would have been useful even just as a bowler today?

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"You're trying to get runs in a safe way without losing a wicket, because you don't want to be five down with 20 overs to go. If you just use your feet and knock it for ones, then the bowler will try something different and maybe give you a four-ball."

Joe Root shows some attacking intent by coming down the wicket to Dilshan and pushing the ball into the covers. The end result is the same though - just a single. The gentle off-spinners of Dilshan are getting too much respect for my liking. Three singles from the over. Would the Sri Lankans be the same against Joe Root's offies?

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"It's just a quiet period. Sri Lanka are trying to get through as many overs as they can quickly without being taken for big runs, and England have got two batsmen trying to get in. Joe Root needs some form. It's a 'feeling-out' period."

Thanks James, sterling work. What's everyone thinking? England struggling? Laying the platform for a brutal assault at the end? Thisara Perera continues to muscle in and keep things tight - who's going to show their hand first? How many questions can one man ask in one live text entry? Two from the over.

England wading through treacle here as they manage only a couple of singles from another over of Dilshan's slow spin.

Time to hand over to Marc Higginson to take you through the rest of England's innings...

Robert Snell: South Africa were 146/3 off 30 and scored 408. England reached 105-3 off 22. Let's see what Morgan, Buttler et al can do...

Rob Meech: This innings so far is symptomatic of England's failings in ODI cricket. No urgency, too many leaves.

It's a feature of England's batting that they can be tied down more easily than most by bowling a tight line. Whereas you see other batsmen backing away to create width, a nagging over from Perera has England completely hamstrung as they can't get him away from the stumps. Eoin Morgan has been England's innovator-in-chief in recent times - they need him to play a few shots today.

Geoffrey Boycott
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"Joe Root just needs to play the ball into gaps - let Morgan and the others play the big shots. He'll score at a run a ball if he plays his normal game. He's certainly not a natural hooker of the ball."

Joe Root is living a charmed life here. For the second time in this innings he gets away with a loopy top edge, dragging the ball from wide outside off and quickening the pulse of the fielder at fine leg, who can't quite get to it. Root manages a more convincing stroke next ball, cutting a short ball for four. A few more of those wouldn't go amiss.

Thisara Perera, a bustling seamer who can also smash the ball around a bit with the willow, is into the attack. England need to rebuild here, but they can't afford to do it too slowly. Just three from that over.

Jeremy Coney
Ex-New Zealand captain on BBC Test Match Special

"The one thing I do notice about the English batsmen is that they don't run hard between the wickets. They dab the ball down to third man and already have it in their head that they'll amble through for one."