vDAMBULLA, Aug 20 (AFP): Mahendra Singh Dhoni capped Zaheer Khan's devastating spell with a crucial 39 as India posted a tense three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international here Wednesday.
Left-arm seamer Zaheer ran through the top order in his incisive opening spell to finish with 4-21 as India bundled Sri Lanka out for a meagre 142. He was brilliantly backed by paceman Praveen Kumar (3-34).
But India skipped a few heartbeats before achieving the modest target with more than 10 overs to spare to level the five-match series 1-1.
They were wobbling at 75-5 after seamers Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara shared four wickets, but skipper Dhoni and debutant Subramaniam Badrinath (27 not out) held their nerve under pressure.
When Dhoni inside-edged paceman Dilhara Fernando's delivery on to his stumps, his team were just eight runs short of the win with four wickets in hand.
"Zaheer did the job for us as he bowled in right areas. Credit also goes to Badrinath as he had not played Sri Lankan spinners Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan before," said Dhoni.
"We needed this victory. There was pressure on us, especially after losing opener Gautam Gambhir (stiff neck) before the match. We would have liked to win comfortably, but in the end it is about winning."
Unorthodox Sri Lankan spinner Mendis yet again made the Indian batsmen struggle for runs with shrewd variations, getting the big wicket of Yuvraj Singh before finishing with 2-22 off 10 overs.
Yuvraj (20) tried to ease the pressure by smashing Thushara for three fours in two overs, but his flourish did not last long. He was trapped leg-before by Mendis to leave his team wobbling at 52-3.
India appeared to have squandered the advantage given by Zaheer when they lost makeshift opener Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina in Kulasekara's opening spell and then Virat Kohli (37) and Rohit Sharma in Thushara's one over.
Dhoni and Badrinath then applied themselves well to add 60 for the sixth wicket which proved vital in a low-scoring game.
Sri Lanka were earlier in danger of falling to their lowest-ever total of 96 against India when they were reduced to 44-6, but Thushara (44) and Kulasekara (25) rallied their side with a defiant 74-run stand.
The Indian skipper's decision to put the hosts in to bat after winning the toss produced instant results as Zaheer bowled Kumar Sangakkara with his sixth delivery which moved in sharply to hit the off-stump.
Man-of-the-match Zaheer claimed two wickets in his third over, removing in-form Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera.
The third match will be played in Colombo Sunday.
India 143 for 7 (Dhoni 39, Kohli 37) beat Sri Lanka 142 (Thushara 44, Zaheer 4-21, Praveen 3-34) by three wickets.
