``Our spinners bowled very well and the fielding was brilliant,'' said an exultant Ranatunga, who conceded that it was a good toss to lose.
Pakistan captain Rameez Raja, who won the toss was saddled with the problem of whether to bat first on a moist pitch or risk chasing runs when it was slowing down. He chose the latter and lost the match. One couldn't blame him for taking such a decision because it was quite a tricky one.
``We thought we could get up to around 260, but the middle-order collapsed. However, 239 seemed to be a very good score because the wicket was slow and moist and it was difficult to play shots,'' said Ranatunga.
``Marvan (Atapattu) played a pretty good innings especially in the conditions. After we lost two or three top order batsmen he batted right throughout till about the 45th over. That is what we told him to do,'' said Ranatunga.
The Sri Lanka captain praised middle-order batsman Hashan Tillekeratne, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a broken right forearm sustained in last month's cricket tour of the West Indies.
``Hashan is an experienced and brilliant batsman in the middle-order. He is a very difficult batsman to replace especially in that slot,'' said Ranatunga.
Sri Lanka replaced Tillekeratne in the line-up with all-rounder Ruwan Kalpage, who excelled with three splendid outfield catches to put the brakes on Pakistan at a crucial stage of the game.
Dejected Pakistan captain Rameez Raja blamed his team's batting for failing to win their lung-opener against World champions Sri Lanka.
Pakistan chasing a winning total of 240 in 50 overs fell short by 15 runs as they began their campaign to lay hands on the Asia Cup for the first time.
Of the four participating countries only Sri Lanka (once) and India (four times) have won the trophy in its 13 years of existence.
``We didn't put in a match-winning partnership in between. We chipped in, but nobody sort of went at a run a ball which was the requirement at the time,'' said Rameez in a post-match press conference.
``I thought we had Sri Lanka under control when we bowled them out for 239. I was always confident we could pull it off. It was basic cricket. You would expect a run rate of around four to four and a half from any side batting first in a one-dayer,'' said Rameez.
When questioned what the turning point of the match was, Rameez said: ``Right throughout Sri Lanka had an edge when we were batting''.