The victory was well deserved and sweet revenge for Sri Lanka.
Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who was overjoyed at Sri Lanka's victory immediately cabled a message of congratulations to the captain Ranatunga and the team. 'Congratulations on bringing fame and honour to the country', the message from the President read.
Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake under whose tenure the team keeps winning also sent a message of congratulations.
Another happy man who was beaming with smiles when Sri Lanka won and proudly presented the trophy and winning cheque to skipper Ranatunga was the big boss of Singer Hemaka Amarasuriya, whose company sponsors the Sri Lanka team.
The team in winning proved a happy family, and that was expected because they are being sponsored by Singer 'your family company'.
When Ranatunga led the team on to the field after having lost the toss, it was apparent that they were determined to beat the Pakistanis and prove to their critics that the losses in New Zealand were unfortunate and should not have been.
And the cricketers gave their critics a kick up their backsides with a memorable victory and one that will be savoured for a long time to come.
The man who made the impossible possible was none other than that man for all seasons, the one and only Aravinda de Silva. Feared by every bowling attack in the world, the diminutive de Silva made this tourney all his own with a magnificent batting performance that will go down in the history of cricket in the desert.
Aravinda came to the wicket when his team was not too happily placed at 35 for two. He immediately began by driving Younis for four first ball and from then onwards he was the master as he took charge and got the Pakistani bowlers to dance to his tune.
What is obvious now and nice to watch in his batting is the straight bat that he offers. Gone are the cross bat shots and wild hitting. Instead he has settled down to some very technically correct batting which has brought him a lot of runs and which has gone to rub off on all other batsmen.
Aravinda realised the responsibility that was thrust on him when his team had lost three vital wickets. Together with his skipper he began the repair job and how well they did it. They were in no undue hurry, playing the bowling on its merits, but more importantly keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Aravinda took the best that the bowlers could offer and with some wonderful stroke play and intelligent placements upset the bowlers who lost their line, length and direction.
It was also nice to see Ranatunga among the runs. He held a brilliant catch to get rid of Rameez Raja, led the team admirably and when his batting turn came, supported his deputy and together they took the side to within sniffing distance of victory with a stand of 66 for the fourth wicket.
Ranatunga too was in no hurry for runs. He realised that staying at the wicket and not losing wickets was that mattered and that he did very sensibly. One hopes he will continue the good form.
Once Ranatunga departed the other experienced batsman in the side, the ever reliable Roshan Mahanama gave Aravinda good support to add 60 for the fifth wicket and put their team on the road to victory.
When Aravinda moved to the leg and square drove off spinner Saqalain Mushtaq for runs and victory for Sri Lanka all hell broke loose among the wildly cheering spectators in the stands on the ground and what joyous scenes were witnessed.
There was also a lot of lighting of firecrackers all over the country.
Congratulations from us to all who made this memorable victory possible.