Dhoni seized the initiative in dramatic fashion for the hosts

Mahendra Dhoni hit a brilliant century as India beat Sri Lanka in Jaipur to earn themselves a 3-0 stranglehold in the seven-match limited-overs series.

Wicket-keeper Dhoni allowed the hosts to chase a stiff target of 299 at a canter and he hit a national record 10 sixes in his remarkable 183 not out.

His score also matched the second highest by an Indian in one-dayers.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara hit 138 not out in Sri Lanka's 298-4, which also included 71 from Mahela Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka won the toss but started slowly.

HIGHEST SCORES IN ODIs Saeed Anwar: 194 (Pak v Ind, Madras, '96-'97) V Richards: 189* (WI v Eng, Manchester, '84) S Jayasuriya: 189 (SL v Ind, Sharjah, '00-'01) G Kirsten: 188* (SA v UAE, R'pindi, '95-'96) S Tendulkar: 186* (Ind v NZ, Hy'bad, '99-'00) M Dhoni: 183* (Ind v SL, Jaipur, '05-'06) S Ganguly: 183 (Ind v SL, Taunton, '99) Viv Richards: 181 (WI v SL, Karachi, '87-'88)

Ajit Agarkar bowled Sanath Jayasuriya for 15 and skipper Marvan Atapattu followed him back to the pavilion, caught behind off Jai Prakash Yadav for 17 off 49 balls.

Sangakkara was determined to make his mark on the match, however.

He hit two sixes and 13 fours as he blazed to a career-best score in one-day internationals.

Jayawardene hit 10 boundaries of his own off 70 balls before slicing a rising delivery from Agarkar to Virender Sehwag at third-man.

That dismissal ended a partnership of 151 in 23 overs and a further 70 runs were scored off the final 32 balls as Sangakkara and Farveez Maharoof blazed away.

But the stodgy start to the innings had cost Sri Lanka dearly.

India nonchalantly dealt with losing Sachin Tendulkar in the first over of their reply as Dhoni and Sehwag put on 92 runs in 14 overs for the second wicket.

Sri Lanka captain Atapattu really struggled to get moving

Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Venugopal Rao produced brief cameos as the scoring rate remained impressive.

But they all played second fiddle to Dhoni, who was in his element against a Sri Lankan bowling attack including Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.

He collected his eighth six when depositing leg-spinner Upul Chandana over extra cover in the 45th over with an effortless drive and his ninth, over long-off, followed three balls later.

Fittingly, the winning hit, from the first ball of the 47th over, was also a Dhoni six - launched over midwicket off Tillakaratne Dilshan. India had lost just four wickets.

Dhoni's score was only 11 runs off the best ever in one-day internationals - Saeed Anwar's 194 for Pakistan against India in Madras in 1997.

India: V Sehwag, S R Tendulkar, R Dravid (Capt), Yuvraj Singh, Y V Rao, J P Yadav, M S Dhoni (Wkt), A B Agarkar, I K Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, M Kartik, Sub: S Raina.

Sri Lanka: S T Jayasuriya, K C Sangakkara (Wkt), M S Atapattu (Capt), D P M D Jayawardene, R P Arnold, T M Dilshan, U D U Chandana, T T Samaraweera, M F Maharoof, W P U J C Vaas, M Muralitharan, Sub: D N T Zoysa.

Sri Lanka won toss and decided to bat