Sangakkara was the first of Zaheer's four wickets in a stunning spell

India levelled the five-match series with Sri Lanka, scraping a three-wicket win in a low-scoring game in Dambulla.

They chose to field first and soon had Sri Lanka at 11-4, Zaheer Khan ousting Kumar Sangakkara in the second over and then taking two wickets in three balls.

Thilan Thushara hit seven fours but Sri Lanka were all out for 142 in the 39th.

India lost two wickets in the first five overs, but Mahendra Dhoni hit 39 and debutant Subramaniam Badrinath sealed it with a patient unbeaten 27.

It was Sri Lanka's lowest home total against India, the previous low being 181.

Dhoni, who admitted he had misjudged the pitch in the opening match, in which India were bowled out for 146 having chosen to bat, this time put the Sri Lankans in, and his bowlers took full advantage of some helpful conditions for seam movement.

We needed this victory, there was pressure on us India captain Mahendra Dhoni

At one stage, after Zaheer had ripped through the cream of the batting with 4-21, it looked as if three figures might be a problem, with the score at 44-6, but Thushara (44) shared a 16-over stand of 74 with Nuwan Kulasekara (25).

Teenage opener Virat Kohli, playing only his second one-day international, made an assured 37 in reply, but India continued to lose wickets.

In the 20th over, Thushara struck a double blow with his left-arm seamers.

Kohli was caught by Chamara Kapugedera at short mid-wicket and two balls later Rohit Sharma was lbw for a duck to leave India five down and 68 runs short of victory.

But Dhoni and Badrinath combined for a responsible 60-run partnership for the sixth wicket from 96 balls.

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Only eight were required when Dhoni got an inside edge onto his stumps, and tension mounted when Harbhajan Singh was deceived by mysterious spinner Ajantha Mendis (2-22), but Badrinath saw his team over the finishing line.

"We needed this victory," Dhoni admitted. "There was pressure on us, especially after losing opener Gautam Gambhir (with a stiff neck) before the match. We would have liked to win comfortably, but in the end it is about winning."

The captain was quick to praise his two key performers in Dambulla.

"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."

Counterpart Mahela Jayawardene, one of Zaheer's victims for just two, said: "We knew we could win this match only by getting wickets.

"We tried hard, but Dhoni and Badrinath batted really well and their partnership took the game away from us."

The next match takes place in Colombo on Sunday.

Meanwhile, India fast bowler Munaf Patel was fined 75% of his match fee after verbally abusing Sri Lankan umpire Gamini Silva, who rejected one of his lbw appeals.

Match referee Chris Broad imposed the fine and said: "I accept that in international cricket there is a lot of passion but that does not excuse players talking back to umpires in an aggressive manner."