Both sides were being led by first time captains with Stuart Broad replacing the dropped Paul Collingwood as skipper of England's World Twenty20 winning side while Kandamby was leading Sri Lanka in the ongoing absence of Tillakaratne Dilshan with a broken thumb.
England gave Twenty20 international debuts to spin bowling all-rounder Samit Patel and seamer Jade Dernbach. Meanwhile they recalled Ravi Bopara in place of in-form batsman Ian Bell.
The match also saw the return of England's World Twenty20-winning opening pair of Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb.
England beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in the preceding three-Test match series following the rain-affected draw at the Rose Bowl this week.
Sri Lanka welcomed back several players who missed the Tests through retirement from the five-day format or injury including fast bowler Lasith Malinga, all-rounder Angelo Mathews and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Veteran batsman Jayasuriya, controversially, is set to play in just this match and the first of five one-day internationals at The Oval on Tuesday, rather than the whole series, before retiring from international cricket.
Jayasuriya, now an MP, has reportedly been given a recall after nearly two years out of international cricket due to political interference.
England: Craig Kieswetter (wk), Michael Lumb, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Luke Wright, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad (captain), Graeme Swann, Jade Dernbach
Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby (capt), Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Nigel Llong (ENG), TV umpire: Robert Bailey (ENG)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)
