Experienced Kumar Sangakkara showed the way with a breathtaking 84-ball 103 as Sri Lanka recovered from a middle-order batting collapse to pull off a thrilling two-wicket victory.
Chasing 265 for win after opting to bowl first, the islanders rode on the 36-year-old's masterclass to complete the task with four balls to spare at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.
"Toss was crucial in these sort of places. It's just a matter of luck at the toss. If they were bowling and they had three spinners later on I don't think they would have had the same chances. I would rather strengthen my batting. It did not pay off for us. We need to go back to drawing table and see what we can do from here," Kohli said at the post-match presser.
"We could have played smarter cricket on the day. But if you see some decisions first two overs close lbws, plus we dropped a few chances. It's part of cricket. But we should have taken our chances. Overall, we did not play smart cricket the way we did against Bangladesh. In batting also we could have made 20-25 runs more."
Kohli defended his decision to play Stuart Binny even as as Sri Lankan's inclusion of Ajantha Mendis (4/60) worked for them.