England captain Alastair Cook paid tribute to Sri Lankan centurion Kumar Sangakkara and took his own share of the blame for England's Champions Trophy defeat tonight.

Sangakkara came in in the third over and batted through for 134 not out as Sri Lanka chased down England's total of 293 for seven to win by seven wickets.

And Cook, who made 59 from 85 balls, told Sky Sports 1: ''It was an outstanding hundred, any time you chase 300 somebody's got to play an outstanding innings - they're allowed to play well.

''It's hard to say exactly what we could have done, the run rate was always sevens and a couple more wickets would have pushed it up to eights, but that was a very good chase down.

''It was probably my innings in one way, if I could have got going and you add 20 runs to the scoreboard, it would have been an outstanding effort on that wicket.''

The result leaves England's progress in the balance ahead of their final game against New Zealand. The Black Caps top the group on three points, with England and Sri Lanka on two and Australia one.

Cook said: ''We knew we had to win one of these two games. This is why the Champions Trophy is such a good tournament, every game means something and you're against quality opposition all the time.''

Jonathan Trott (76) and Joe Root (68) also contributed well for England while Ravi Bopara smashed 28 runs from the last over to lift them to a good total.

And Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews was quick to praise Sangakkara's contribution after the early loss of Kusal Perera.

''It was just that one over that went for about 20 runs, they got some momentum from it but the bowlers were brilliant other than that,'' he said.

''Then Sangakkara was brilliant, it's great to have a number three who against good attacks can score lots of runs, and when team needs him he delivers.''

Sangakkara received excellent support from Tillakaratne Dilshan (44) and long-time cohort Mahela Jayawardene, who made 42 in a third-wicket stand of 85.

But the most dramatic impact came from bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who was surprisingly promoted to number five and responded with a 30-ball half-century.

''The management decided,'' said Mathews. ''He has been brilliant with the bat and tries to contribute in any way.

''He's been doing the job for us in the recent past so we thought of sending Kulasekara in to have a crack in the powerplay.''

Sangakkara agreed: ''Kulasekara put the icing on the cake, he took the pressure off everyone.

''Once the powerplay was over he surprised everyone by hitting some crisp shots and placing the ball well.

''Mahela is the best batsman in the side at any time, he's in good touch and was looking really dangerous.''

Reflecting on the pressure that accompanied the early start to his own innings, he added: ''That's the Champions Trophy and international cricket as a whole, the pressure is constant but that's what players the enjoy. ''I'm really happy I delivered today.''