Nuwan Kulasekara removed Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir and claimed two important catches as Sri Lanka beat India by 51 runs on Tuesday to replace the World Cup champions in second spot in the Tri-series.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat, then scored 45 in a 95-run opening stand with Tillakaratne Dilshan (51) to set Sri Lanka on course for an imposing 289-6. Lahiru Thirimanne contributed 62 and Angelo Mathews finished unbeaten on 49 as the Sri Lankans piled on 91 in the last 10 overs.

India’s reply started badly, losing stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag on the second ball before slipping to 54-3 when Kulasekara dismissed Tendulkar (22) and Gambhir (29). He finished with 3-40 and Thissara Perera had figures of 4-37, finishing with a sharp return catch from Irfan Pathan (47) as India was bowled out for 238 in 45.1 overs.

Virat Kholi top-scored with 66 for India, but was dropped twice in an unconvincing innings.

Sri Lanka improved to 11 points in the tournament, three behind Australia and one in front of India, which has slipped from first to last following back-to-back losses.