Port of Spain, Trinidad: Some superb bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4 for 8), who was ably supported by Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 17 each) helped India overcome Sri Lanka in a rain-truncated match to move into the final of Tr-nation series at Queen's Park on Tuesday.
India will now play the same opponents for the trophy.
In the match curtailed by rain, India were put in to bat and the World No. 1 team struggled to make to 119 for three off 29 overs before a heavy shower interrupted the proceedings. However the conditions improved in the late afternoon, and the Sri Lankans set a revised target of 178 off 26 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Therefater, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled brilliantly and came up with an outstanding spell, taking four for eight off his allotted six overs and Sri Lanka crumbled for 96 in reply.
India won by 81 runs and the margin ensured that the World Champions finished ahead of hosts West Indies based on their superior run-rate to make it to the final of the tri-series.
Earlier, India reached 119-3 off 29 overs before heavy rain caused a stoppage of four hours, 35 minutes.
Rohit Sharma and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan started off well and added 27 in 6.2 overs before Angelo Mathews gave Sri Lanka the breakthrough. Dhawan edged Mathews to Mahela Jayawardene at the first slip and the veteran made no mistake to take his 200th catch at this level.
Sharma forged a second wicket stand of 49 with Kohli. Kohli was the more fluent, hitting four boundaries before recalled Herath struck two crucial blows. The Indian captain was plumb leg before playing back to a faster, straighter delivery while Dinesh Karthik was also on the back foot when he was bowled off stump with one that turned sharply past the outside edge at 111-3.
Sharma was on his way to half century when the rain interuppted the match.
Later, Bhuvneshwar exploited the helpful conditions, extracting pace and bounce off a greenish pitch and moving the ball both ways. He took the wickets of Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara off successive deliveries in his second over. Later, he sent Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne back to the pavilion.