by Bryn Palmer

The abiding memory of the last Champions Trophy was the monsoon downpour that prevented either Sri Lanka or India being able to call themselves champions.

But before the thunder and lightning descended on Colombo on successive days in September 2002, the hosts had provided their supporters with plenty to cheer.

None more so than the veteran Aravinda de Silva, whose exploits with bat and ball almost helped his side to a memorable triumph on home soil.

"The fact we had home advantage and the way were playing at that time meant the guys were all quite confident," De Silva told BBC Sport.

"As is always the case when we play in Sri Lanka, there was a great atmosphere and we really enjoyed it with the crowds behind us. It really helped the team."

Sri Lanka served notice of their intentions in the opening match with a crushing eight-wicket victory over Pakistan.

After Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan had both claimed three wickets to dismiss their opponents for 200, De Silva came to the wicket with Sri Lanka 45-2 in reply.

"We had to win that game to qualify and after we lost a couple of wickets I had to do a job and see the team through," he recalled.

Alongside captain Sanath Jayasuriya, who posted an unbeaten 101, De Silva rattled off 66 off 81 balls to guide his team to victory with 14 overs to spare.

A more predictable, and even more comfortable, win over underdogs Holland followed to set up a semi-final encounter with world champions Australia.

Initially the signs were not good for Sri Lanka, as Australian openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden set off all guns blazing at seven runs per over.

Desperate to stem the tide, Jayasuriya summoned the off-breaks of De Silva, who had not even bowled in their opening two matches.

"At that stage it was important to slow the pace down," De Silva recalled. "They were going great guns and my job was to come on at one end and put the brakes on.

"Although I have bowled more important spells, like in the (1996) World Cup final, that was the one where I probably helped turn the game around.

"But while I was operating from one end, I had good support from the other end."

De Silva bowled Hayden in the seventh over of the innings, sparking an unlikely Australian collapse from 49-0 to 107-7 and a paltry 162 all out.

His miserly 10 overs yielded just 16 runs and earned him the man-of-the-match award, as Sri Lanka’s top order made light work of the victory target.

In the rescheduled final against India, after weather had ruined any prospect of a result at the first attempt, De Silva again threatened to take the match by storm.

Despite losing two early wickets, the then 36-year-old stayed true to his instincts in his last major match in Sri Lanka.

He launched a thrilling attack with five boundaries off one over from Ajit Agarkar but after racing to 27 off 24 balls, perished attempting a slog-sweep off Anil Kumble.

"I just wanted to take on the bowling at that stage, and when I got out there was a bit of disappointment," he said.

That feeling was shared by supporters and players when, after Sri Lanka had posted a score of 222-7, the game was abandoned for a second time with India 38-1 in reply.

"It is very hard to say whether we would have won," de Silva added. "They were playing very good cricket as well, and in tight matches you never know until the last ball is bowled.

"We had to be satisfied with what we got in the end."

What he, Sri Lanka and India got was a share of the Champions Trophy.

One of the game’s great entertainers, the popular 5ft 3inch batsman went on to bid farewell to international cricket at last year’s World Cup.