Photos: Sri Lanka ease past India in Brisbane

India's tri-series campaign was thrown into disarray as they lost Sri Lanka by 51 runs in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Scorecard | Match Report

Chasing Sri Lanka's imposing total of 289 for 6, the Indians suffered another top-order collapse and folded up for 238 in 45.1 overs.

The target of 290 proved too stiff for the Indians despite a good 96-run fourth-wicket stand between Virat Kohli (66) and Suresh Raina (32), and a late counter-attack by Irfan Pathan, who scored 47 off 34 balls, inclusive of seven boundaries.

The Sri Lankans were well-served by Nuwan Kulasekara, who claimed 3 for 40, including the scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, and Thisara Perera, who took 4 for 37.

Kulasekara's effort earned him the man-of-the-match award.

India's chase began on a disastrous note as stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag slashed at a wide delivery from Lasith Malinga and the catch ballooned up for the third man fielder to complete the job.

Sachin Tendulkar (22) kept everyone interested during his brief stay.

He once punched Lasith Malinga through cover and then flicked him through mid-wicket, both shots of highest pedigree.

But, then, he tried to leave a Kulasekara delivery and succeeded only in dragging the ball on to his stumps.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina then conjured a partnership, both having benefited from dropped chances.

The two young batsmen benefited from these reprieves and stabilized the innings, with singles although boundaries seemed hard to come by.

Kohli reached his half century off 66 balls. Raina scored 32 off 55 balls.

Pathan was brilliant with his late hitting and struck whistling clean shots in his 47 off 34 balls with seven fours.

Parthiv Patel (4) fell cheaply and Ravichandran Ashwin (5) also didn't last long, leaving India at 232 for eight after 43 overs.

Earlier, Sri Lanka batted solidly through their innings to raise a healthy total.

After openers Tillakaratne Dilshan (51) and Mahela Jayawardene (45) put on 95 runs for the first wicket, Dinesh Chandimal (38), Lahiru Thirimanne (62) and Angelo Matthews (49 not out) contributed handsomely while raising productive stands.

The next few overs were of consolidation by the young pair of Chandimal and Thirimanne.

Chandimal, who has had an outstanding series so far, was rock-solid, while left-hander Thirimanne played a few excellent cover drives and used the pace of Yadav to his advantage.

The 50-run stand between the two came off 52 balls.

It was a dramatic moment in the 40th over, almost ugly, when Ashwin motioned to bowl a delivery and seeing Thirimanne out of his crease, removed the bails.

Apparently both the bowler and Sehwag appealed, the two umpire got into discussion. Sehwag then confronted them before Tendulkar defused the situation by nudging the skipper to withdraw the appeal.

Yadav was the most disappointing of the Indian bowlers, conceding 58 runs from his eight overs for a wicket.

Sehwag surprised everyone by letting Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli bowl the last two overs. In all, 24 runs came from them.