The first one-day international was a no-contest with India trampling over Sri Lanka in Dambulla to take a 1-0 series lead in the five-match series. The hope for all fans will be that Sri Lanka put up a better fight when the series moves onto Pallekele for the second ODI.
For 24 overs, Sri Lanka looked like giving India a real game, having lost the toss and being put into bat.
The top three of Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis were looking good on a solid batting wicket and a score in excess of 300 looked likely. But then, as they showed in the Test series, that tendency to collapse came to the fore, and Sri Lanka ended up with at least a 100 runs short of what they needed to make the game competitive.
India's reply, though, was beyond brutal, with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli finishing the match off in just the 29th over.
Coming back from such a big defeat can be really difficult, but that is precisely what Sri Lanka need to do. The patience of the fans is wearing thin with a certain section venting their ire after the Dambulla defeat, so the responsibility lies with the players to put on a better show.
They don't need to win every game; beating a team like India is never easy. But what Sri Lanka must do is be competitive and not fall over like a house of cards at the slightest hint of pressure.
Pressure is something India haven't been put under enough on this tour so far. Sri Lanka will only know how India handle pressure situations if they force them to be in them, and that is what the home side must do in the second ODI.
Winning the toss might also help, with the Lankans losing all four so far on this tour.
India, if Kohli calls right again, could do with experimenting a little and batting first – see how the batsmen cope in the heat and then watch how the bowlers handle the conditions under the lights, when it becomes much easier for batting with the ball coming on nicely.
Kohli has promised a lot of experimentation in this series as India try to hone in on their best XI, so there could be quite a few changes afoot for this match, be that with the lineup, strategy or both.
The way Sri Lanka have been playing though, you feel no matter what India do, it will end up working and that series score will read 2-0.
Sri Lanka vs India 2nd ODI schedule:
Date: Thursday, August 24.
Time: 2.30pm local time, 2.30pm IST, 10am BST, 11am CET, 5am ET.
Venue: Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele.
TV guide: India: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Ten 3, Sony Ten 3 HD. Sri Lanka: Sony Network. USA: Willow TV. South Africa: SuperSport Two.
