Indians dropped as many as five catches, missed a couple of run out chances and were generally pathetic with the ground fielding to allow the Lankans to pile up a huge total.
A buttered-finger India paid a heavy price for a slopping fielding display to allow Sri Lanka to clinch the first Twenty20 international with a comfortable 29-run run victory and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series here today.
The visitors first rattled up an imposing 215 for five riding on captain Kumar Sangakkara's blistering 37-ball 78 before restricting the hosts to 186 for nine in a high-scoring contest.
The Indians dropped as many as five catches, missed a couple of run out chances and were generally pathetic with the ground fielding to allow the islanders to pile up a huge total on a good batting track at the VCA stadium in Jamtha.
Apart from Sangakkara's assault, Chamara Kapudegera (47 off 20 balls), Tillakaratne Dilshan (34) and Sanath Jayasuriya (26) were the other notable scorers for the Sri Lankans.
The home team had a daunting task at hand to chase down the total but only Gautam Gambhir (55) could manage a substantial score.
The two teams will now travel to Mohali for the second Twenty20 international on Saturday.
Required to score at a stiff asking rate of 10.80, the Indians needed an explosive start by their crack opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gambhir.
Sehwag showed signs of breaking loose by picking up Nuwan Kulasekara for special treatment with a barrage of boundaries
much to the delight of the capacity crowd at the VCA stadium in Jamtha.
Sehwag's belligerence was shortlived as he offered a simple catch to Angelo Mathews in the deep with the team score on 32.
Captain Dhoni promoted himself to the number three slot and was quite content in playing second fiddle to Gambhir who
unleashed a flurry of breathtaking shots.
Gambhir notched up his half century in just 19 balls but fell soon after with paceman Mathews uprooting his stumps as the left hander tried to sweep. His knock of 55 came off just 26 balls and contained as many as 11 boundaries.
The dismissal of Dhoni (9) immediately after Gambhir's departure came as a huge blow for the hosts who needed their captain to accelerate the pace of scoring.
Rohit Sharma (3) soon joined his captain in the dug out after being run out and Yuvraj Singh (6) and Yousuf Pathan (0) fell a few balls later to leave India in dire straits at 115 for six by the 11th over.
Earlier, Sangakkara looked in very good touch after scoring a fine century for a lost cause in the second innings of the thirdand final Test at Mumbai and ensured his team carry on the momentum after a good start given by veteran Jayasuriya and Dilshan who put on 43 in six overs.
Later Sangakkara found the ideal partner in the big-hitting Chamara Kapugedara (47 in 20 balls) as the fourth wicket duo added 69 runs in 5.3 overs to help Lanka cross the 200-mark. The visitors set India a tough ask of scoring over 10 runs an over to win the contest.
The Indians paid the price for some shoddy fielding as they dropped as many as five catches while the ground fielding also left much to be desired.
Lanka were off the block in a brisk manner, after being put in to bat by the hosts, once Jayasuriya settled down after playing and missing often earlier.
In one over from Ashish Nehra, the left-handed marauder from Matara, who joined the team at the conclusion of the three-Test series, slammed the left arm pace bowler for five fours when Nehra strayed in line.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni replaced Nehra with debutant Ashok Dinda after the left arm bowler’s three overs had cost 34 runs and the fifty came in 40 balls.
The 25-year-old Bengal medium pacer struck off his second ball in international cricket, when Jayasuriya slashed and was
caught at deep third man by a diving Ishant Sharma, who had previously let off Tilekaratne Dilshan off his own bowling. The batsman was on 13 at his escape.
When spin was introduced at both ends, Lanka skipper Sangakkara carted left arm Pragyan Ojha for two fours and a straight field six off successive balls in his first over to take Lanka past 75 by the ninth over.
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