"We live in a nation where cricket is almost a religion," he told reporters after his side's four-wicket victory. "Expectations are always high, especially with the batting. I was under a bit of pressure before I came here and I was trying not to pass this on to the others. But hopefully this will get easier now."

The Sri Lankan public is impatient to see a new generation of batsmen fill the yawning gap left by the retired Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva.

The failure to qualify for the final of a home triangular series in May seemed to confirm the fans' fears about weaknesses in the batting.

Yet, the focus and determination shown by the Lankans yesterday made a mockery of a recently acquired reputation for middle-order flakiness.

By Atapattu's philosophy, tapping natural flair is seen as the best route to success. "It is best to let the batsmen play their natural game," he said. "When they came on needing to score almost a run a ball, they showed they are natural stroke players and went after almost everything."

But Atapattu said he was not about to assume that Sri Lanka's batting problems were over with the series win. "Today was satisfying, but I won't be walking six inches off the ground saying our batting has clicked or anything like that. I'm looking for consistency," he said.

The West Indies and Sri Lanka play a final one-day game in St Vincent on Wednesday before clashing in two Tests in St Lucia and Jamaica.