Sri Lankans celebrated from night until dawn, and dispersed with the traditional kiribath (milk rice), commonly served for breakfast for any auspicious moment.
On the night of March 17, 1996, we watched history being made when Sri Lanka won the Cricket World Cup, defeating Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan.
Australia was one of the teams which refused to travel to Sri Lanka when the island nation was torn by the war between government forces and separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (more commonly known as Tamil Tigers).
Sri Lanka had also suffered a three-Test whitewash in Australia, best remembered for Muthiah Muralitharan being called for chucking action by umpire Darryl Hair in the second Test prior to the World Cup.
The two incidents created a dislike towards Australia for many Sri Lankans. So defeating them in the final was poetic justice.
The victory itself brought happiness to the people of Sri Lanka amidst the fear and suffering that prevailed. Innocent civilians were killed in the crossfire following skirmishes and terror activity between government forces and the LTTE.
That success changed the face of cricket in Sri Lanka forever. Cricket became the undisputed No 1 game in the country.
The 1996 World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and it was a competition that lasted more than a month, from February 14 to March 17.
I had moved to Abu Dhabi a little over three-and-a-half-years previously and watched every game on television.
I had a few compatriots who joined me for the Sri Lanka games and this number kept growing until we had around 15 or more by the time the team reached the semi-final and final.
Sri Lanka’s campaign began with two wins already in the bag after Australia and the West Indies refused to travel, thus forfeiting their games.
India was their only serious challenge in the group phase. The other two teams were Zimbabwe and Associate member Kenya.
Sri Lanka topped the group after a six-wicket win over India to earn a quarter-final meeting with England, which they won by five wickets, to set up another clash against India.
The semi-final was epic. Aravinda de Silva's knock was classic and would remain in my memory forever.
Sri Lanka lost both openers in the very first over of Javagal Srinath. Romesh Kaluwitharana was gone after the first ball and Sanath Jayasuriya followed in the third delivery.
Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana, with their new roles as openers to provide their team a flying start, had been revelations in the tournament, and now they were both back in the pavilion.
De Silva got into the repair act and his 47-ball 66, studded with 14 boundaries, got Sri Lanka out of the rut.
Roshan Mahanama (58 retired hurt with cramps), Arjuna Ranatunga (35), Hashan Tillakaratne (32) and Chaminda Vaas (23) chipped in with useful contributions as Sri Lanka put up a fighting total of 251-8.
In reply, India lost Navjot Singh Sidhu when the total was eight but Sachin Tendulkar (65) and Sanjay Manjrekar (25) shared a 90-run stand for the second wicket to get the chase back on track.
What followed thereafter was truly unbelievable. Seven wickets fell for 22 runs and the Indian crowd at Eden Gardens in Kolkata set fire to the stands and hurled objects on to the field, forcing the match referee to stop the game and award the win to Sri Lanka when India were 120-8.
Despite the disappointment scenes from Indians, Sri Lanka were in the final, and for us, anything beyond that match was a bonus.
De Silva was the man again in the final. He took three wickets and hit 107 not out, sharing a 98-run stand for the fourth wicket with Ranatunga as Sri Lanka chased down Australia's 241-7 to win by six wickets and 3.4 overs to spare.
