An impressive bowling display has ensured India will be chasing just 234 for victory in their Commonwealth Bank Series match against Sri Lanka at the WACA Ground on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka made a quick start after winning the toss and electing to bat, racing to 1-72 off their first 15 overs, but the tight bowling of veteran quick Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin restricted them to 8-233 off their 50 overs.
Ashwin led an attack which vastly improved on their effort in their heavy loss to Australia in the first match of the series by claiming 3-32 off 10 overs, while Khan delivered a ferocious new ball spell but was expensive late in the innings and finished with 2-44.
Twenty-two-year-old Dinesh Chandimal continued his fine form with a stylish 64 off 81 for Sri Lanka, adding to the 211 runs he scored at an average of 53 from five one-day internationals on their recent tour of South Africa.
Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 48 off 79, while vice-captain Angelo Mathews lifted the run-rate late in the innings with 33 off 28, but Sri Lanka's overall batting effort left them with an uphill battle to end a run of seven consecutive ODI losses at the WACA Ground.
India will need to score at 4.68 runs per over to win the rematch of the 2011 World Cup final.
After the early loss of Upul Tharanga for four, former captains Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara steadied their innings with a 62-run second wicket partnership.
But Sangakkara's dismissal for 24 off the bowling of Khan - who took 2-24 off his first seven overs - dramatically slowed Sri Lanka's run-rate.
They had been cruising at 1-72 after 15 overs but were restricted to just 1-11 in the bowling power play and struggled to lift the run-rate after that.
Dilshan had few problems scoring early in his innings but got bogged down after the first 10 overs and eventually the pressure got to him and he was caught off spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1-41).
Mahela Jayawardene put on 52 runs for the fourth wicket with Chandimal but fell for 23 off 34 when he attempted a big shot off Ashwin and was caught in the deep, while Thisara Perera was stumped for seven soon after.
Chandimal's attempts to lift the sluggish run-rate played a part in his downfall as he charged down the wicket on Ashwin but missed and was stumped while a mix-up saw Lahiru Thirrimanne run out for seven.
Sri Lanka have won just two of their 15 ODIs in Perth.