India survived a late scare to hang on for a Virat Kohli-inspired four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Bank Series match at the WACA Ground on Wednesday.
India seemed to be cruising to their target of 234 - at one point needing just 77 runs off 98 balls to win with seven wickets in hand - before they lost 3-24 in a middle order collapse which saw them slump to 6-181.
But all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (24 off 28 balls) and tail-ender Ravichandran Ashwin (30 off 38) steadied the ship with an unbeaten 53-run seventh wicket stand to guide India home with 20 balls to spare.
In-form batsman Kohli had earlier set them up for victory with an impressive 77 off 94, but he ran himself out at a crucial stage of India's innings and also injured himself on that play.
Kohli required assistance to leave the ground with an apparent left leg injury suffered while diving to avoid the run out.
Sachin Tendulkar also played an important role in India's chase but again fell short of his 100th international century, dismissed after looking at ease through most of his innings when he chopped the ball onto his stumps for 48 off 63.
The 38-year-old's quest for his 100th ton has now gone on for nearly a year and has included six one-day international innings and 21 Test knocks.
But along with Kohli and a vastly improved bowling performance, Tendulkar still helped to lead India to their first win of the tri-series in a big confidence boost for their struggling side.
Sri Lanka always faced an uphill battle after they were restricted to 8-233 by excellent bowling spells from Ashwin (3-32 off 10 overs) and paceman Zaheer Khan (2-44).
Youngster Dinesh Chandimal (64 off 81) was the best of Sri Lanka's batsman, while Angelo Mathews' 33 not out off 28 helped lift a run-rate which had been poor for much of the innings in the latter overs.
Despite the best efforts of all-rounder Mathews (2-30 off 9.3 overs) and the rest of Sri Lanka's bowlers, their modest total gave them little hope of winning in Graham Ford's first game in charge.
Sri Lanka have now won just two of their 16 50-over games at the WACA, a record they will be desperate to improve in Friday's match against Australia.
After losing struggling opener Virender Sehwag for four early in their chase, India soon recovered through Tendulkar and Kohli's 75-run stand before Mathews dismissed the 'Little Master'.
Kohli and Rohit Sharma then guided the score to 122 before the latter fell for 10 to a spectacular Tillakaratne Dilshan catch off Thisara Perera's bowling.
After Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni fell in consecutive overs, their chase hit a major hurdle when Kohli was comfortably run out while attempting a suicidal single to put his side in big trouble.
But Jadeja and Ashwin showed great composure and guided India to victory in front of a crowd of 6685.
