COLOMBO, May 3: Sri Lanka's World Cup squad returned home on Thursday to a damp welcome with skipper Mahela Jayawardene conceding they had lost the World Cup final to a superior Australian side.

Hundreds of cricket fans lined up along the team's 35 kilometre (20 mile) drive from the airport to the city centre despite heavy rains which lashed the city, killing two people and causing massive traffic jams.

Local politicians moved quickly to congratulate the cricketing heroes and jostled to be photographed besides Jayawardene and his team-mates.

The welcoming ceremony originally scheduled to be held in Independence Square was shifted to the Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters as the city was flooded with 120mm of rain since early Thursday.

Looking back on the final, Jayawardene said: “We ended up short after putting up a determined effort, the outcome is obviously disappointing.

“The Australians were faster off the blocks than us.

“Our bowlers could not get any movement, but that was more due to the conditions than anything to do with the ability of the bowlers,” he added.

Chaminda Vaas, who was smashed for 54 runs in eight overs, said: “I knew it was going to be a batting paradise when I bowled the first delivery as it showed no sign of any movement in the air.”

Australian batsman Adam Gilchrist hit a swashbuckling 149 off just 104 balls with eight sixes and, with Matthew Hayden, put on 172 for the first wicket in 22 of the truncated 38-over innings.

“We were looking for early wickets which was not to be. That set us back,” Jayawardene said adding that his team's plans fell into place till the final.

“We had given different players different roles and everyone played their part very well,” Jayawardene said, summing up Sri Lanka's run to the final.

He dismissed the notion that losing the toss to Ponting in the final was a major setback. “We did not care about the toss. Throughout the tournament our focus was on winning the game irrespective of what happened at the toss.”

Jayawardene said umpires Steve Bucknor and Aleem Dar had erred when they told Ricky Ponting that the game would be carried over to Sunday's reserve day after it was halted due to bad light.

“We knew we had lost the World Cup the moment our batsmen accepted bad light because we had completed 20 overs by then,” he said.—AFP