Lankan spinners destroy India

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DAMBULLA, Aug 18 (BBC): Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan shared six wickets as Sri Lanka thrashed India in the first one-day international in Dambulla.

New sensation Mendis (3-21) and fellow tweaker Muralitharan (3-37) helped bowl out the tourists for a lowly 146.

Nothing went right for India, including the loss of in-form opener Virender Sehwag to injury before the start.

Sri Lanka had no problems with their chase, racing to their target in the 35th over, losing just two wickets.

Mendis grabbed two key wickets in his opening spell when he removed hard-hitting batsmen Yuvraj Singh (the top scorer with 23) and Mahendra Dhoni, while Muralitharan made short work of India's lower order.

With Sehwag ruled out after injuring his ankle Sunday, Virat Kohli was drafted in to make a debut.

Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas gave the hosts a dream start when he removed opener Gautam Gambhir with the second delivery of the match, which moved in sharply to knock back the off-stump.

Paceman Nuwan Kulasekara (2-23) trapped Kohli lbw for 12 and then got rid of Suresh Raina, who hit a lazy drive straight to cover.

Yuvraj was dropped on five by Mahela Jayawardene at slip but was eventually bowled off an inside-edge attempting to defend.

Sri Lanka 147 for 2 (Mahela 61*, Kapugedera 45) beat India 146 (Mendis 3-21, Murali 3-37) by eight wickets