Colombo, Oct 4 (IBNS) Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that Rangana Herath was included in the team because Pakistan were vulnerable to left-arm spin.
Herath spun Sri Lanka to the final bagging three for 25. The 16-run win was Sri Lanka's sweet revenge for their 2009 final loss to Pakistan.
"It means a great deal, thanks to the fans," said Jaywardene.
The Sri Lankan skipper said it was a tough call to leave out young spinner Akila Dananjaya for Herath.
"It was a tough call keeping out the birthday boy Dananjaya and we knew that Pakistan were weak against left-arm spin. We weren't sure how the wicket would behave. We felt we were 15 short and 140 was a par score. We made mistakes in the field but it didn't cost us," said Jaywardene.
Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez said the middle-order collapse did their team in.
"Every person gave 100%. Jamshed and Raza have been the positives for us in this tournament. We were much in the game but the middle order collapsed. I thank the fans who came here to support us. We really wanted to do something for them," he said.
