England skipper Alastair Cook has praised Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara for his match-wining knock in their Champions Trophy clash at The Oval.

The 35-year-old blasted 134 from 135 ball, finishing unbeaten at the crease as his team chased down 295 for victory.

Cook said that the Three Lions will not look back in anger at their performance, stating that Sangakkara was the difference between the two teams.

"I think the difference was an outstanding hundred from an outstanding cricketer," Cook told Sky Sports News. "Sometimes you come up short against a guy who plays as well as that and you don't feel quite so bad.

"We tried a few different things but in that 130 (sic) he didn't give a chance. It's not as if we can sit here and say we had our opportunities, that was just a very fine hundred.

"[Almost] 300 wins you a lot of games of cricket. It didn't today because of a very fine innings from Sangakkara."

England play New Zealand in Cardiff in their final group game on Tuesday.