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Yuvraj Singh turned in an electrifying all-round performance as India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in Mohali to square the two-match Twenty20 international series.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara had threatened to upstage the home side again by smashing a belligerent 59 off just 31 deliveries as Sri Lanka piled up a massive 206 for seven.

Sehwag (64 off 36 deliveries) then got the chase off to a solid start and Mahendra Singh Dhoni contributed 46, but Yuvraj, who also claimed three for 23, overshadowed those performances with an undefeated 60 (25 deliveries) as India overhauled the target with five deliveries to spare.

It was the highest successful chase in Twenty20 internationals.

Sangakkara won the toss but Ishant Sharma, who shared the new ball with Ashish Nehra, struck in his first over to remove Tillakaratne Dilshan, knocking out leg stump with a delivery that moved off the seam.

It was a rare bright moment for the home side, who again let themselves down with another shoddy show in the field.

Sangakkara, who replaced Dilshan, was off the mark with a boundary and thereafter took the game away from India with some ferocious hitting.

He dominated an 81-run stand for the second wicket with Sanath Jayasuriya (31), a partnership which helped the visitors recover nicely from the blow of Dilshan's dismissal.

Sangakkara, dropped on 28 by Ravindra Jadeja on the ropes, raised his half-century off 29 deliveries with a six off Yuvraj.

By then Sangakkara had lost Jayasuriya and his own dismissal soon after helped India mount some pressure, but India's fielding only went from bad to worse and Sri Lanka raced to a solid total.

Chinthaka Jayasinghe (38), promoted up the order and dropped twice in one over, hammered four boundaries and a six while Angelo Mathews, grassed on 11, helped the visitors finish with a flourish, returning with an unbeaten 26 (13 deliveries).

Sri Lanka, however, had an equally poor day in the field.

Gautam Gambhir, cleared of the swine flu just hours earlier, and Virender Sehwag lived dangerously during an opening wicket stand off 58, the visitors missing a spate of run out chances.

Gambhir was finally caught short of the crease while trying for a third run, his dismissal coming in the last over of the powerplay.

Jayasuriya had earlier dropped Sehwag on 14, a reprieve which proved costly as the opener went on to reach only his second half-century in Twenty20 internationals, steadying the chase with a 50-run stand with Dhoni.

Sehwag was then caught in the deep and Dhoni, dropped on one by Chamara Kapugedera, was joined by Yuvraj, the pair bringing the required rate below the 10-run mark in quick time.

Yuvraj, who turned 28 today, was dropped on 40 in a Nuwan Kulasekara over from which he hit 23 and reached 50 off just 20 deliveries.

India, well in control by then, suffered a minor blip as Dhoni and Suresh Raina were dismissed in quick succession, but Yuvraj finished off the game with a six.