Alastair Cook was relieved after England finally ended their losing run in one-day internationals with a five-wicket victory in Hambantota.
England had lost seven of their last eight ODIs and had fallen 2-0 down in the seven-match series against Sri Lanka before Jos Buttler's hard-hitting half-century saw them to victory in the third game.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Cook said: "It's great to get over the line.
"We probably made it harder than we should have; we had a great start with Mo (Moeen Ali) and we were cruising.
"But it was a great knock by 'Jose' (Buttler) and Rooty (Joe Root) to get us over the line."
Cook himself helped set the platform, contributing 34 to an opening stand of 84 with the in-form Moeen, who hit 58 off 40 balls before being run out.
"It was nice to score a few," added Cook. "It was disappointing to get out when I did because we were building a good partnership.
"We thought 235 was about par on a really good wicket – credit to the groundsman and all the people that helped us get a game."
Opposite number Angelo Mathews was frustrated with his side's bowling and fielding, which allowed England to chase down a reduced Duckworth/Lewis target of 236 in 35 overs.
"The batters put up a really good show but I think we were still short by 10 or 15 runs," he said.
"The spinners found it hard to grip the ball but we were pretty poor in the field.
"We don't need to panic. It's one game. We played pretty poorly and need to bounce back."
The reduction in England's total, Sri Lanka having made 242 for eight, came as a surprise and Mathews said: "Duckworth/Lewis, you can't really rely on it.
"But the bowlers weren't really up to it and the fielding, dropped catches and no-balls here and there."
England wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler was named man of the match after his unbeaten 55 helped the tourists to success.
Like Cook, he admitted the win was not as easy as they would have liked.
“It probably showed that we haven’t won too many games recently but to get over the line is brilliant and it will give everyone a lot of confidence," he said
“It was nice to get a few runs, especially after feeling like I haven’t batted much recently.
“It was good to get some time in the middle and bat with Rooty and get us over the line.
“The series is well and truly alive and we’re looking to make it 2-2 in Colombo in the next game.”
Awesome win tonight! Brilliant finishing from @joeroot05 and @josbuttler! #YouBeauty #EngvSL
— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) December 3, 2014