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Contrasting emotions have marked Sri Lanka's victory over England in the first Test at Kandy.
A bowling champion broke the world record to bring joy to millions of fans while an ageing but still agile batsman rode out into the sunset.
With the world record now firmly in his grasp, Muttiah Muralitharan is seeking to take it to a new, probably unreachable level.
Sanath Jayasuriya's bludgeoning batting will be missed. Though his Test record waned with time, he gave a glimpse of what he was capable of in his last Test innings. The six fours in an over will haunt James Anderson for a while yet.
There will be a lot of murmur in Australia that Muralitharan throws and that the record belongs to their favourite son Shane Warne. But technology has proved Muralitharan right and that is what matters.
Muralitharan must be saluted. He has been mocked, booed by spectators and targetted often by the cricketing authorities.
Despite the vilification campaign, Muralitharan has gone about his business, wheeling away over after over with his sharp off spin and deadly doosra. Bowling more than 50 overs on an average per match, Muralitharan has let his bowling do the talking.
The Sri Lankan cricket authorities must be praised for backing their bowler through his worst days. Muralitharan still holds former skipper Arjuna Ranatunga in high regard for taking up his case vociferously when he was first called for throwing in Australia.
The world painted Ranatunga as a villain for defying authority. In hindsight, Ranatunga's defiance gave Muralitharan a long career in the game.
The Australians will point out that Muralitharan has rarely done well on Australian pitches and he has taken many wickets against weaker opposition like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
That would be utter nonsense. That yardstick cannot judge a bowler's merits. Even Warne has struggled on Indian pitches in his early days.
Hopefully the Aussies will some day fully acknowledge the great bowler and his feat. That will be justice done.
Not that it will matter to Muralitharan much. He knows that the rest of the world appreciates him and his record.
Jayasuriya may have not reached the level which Muralitharan has attained, but he has still left his mark on world cricket.
He will always be synonymous with one-day cricket and entertainment. Those with long memories will always remember Jayasuriya's flashing bat as he hooked, pulled and drove his team to the World Cup title in 1996 on home territory.
If Mark Greatbatch of New Zealand initiated the 'early overs slog' in the 1991-92 World Cup in Australia, then Jayasuriya refined it and took it to another level.
His batting was so compelling that it was worth skipping work for a bit or waking up at ungodly hours to watch him.
A Test average of 40 is decent by any standards and good if one played like the way Jayasuriya did. His last Test innings, when he scored 78, was a fitting finale to his abilities. It was one of the factors responsible for his team's victory.
Like Muralitharan, he was a match winner when he got going. One Jayasuriya burst could change the whole complexion of the match. He was a good captain too, leading his country to many fine victories. His left-arm bowling was more than useful and picked up 307 wickets in one-day cricket and 98 in Tests.
He was part of the team for nearly two decades and his dynamism will be sorely missed.
Both Jayasuriya and Muralitharan were feared most by the opposition because of their ability to change the course of a match quickly.
Muralitharan will still be there as the Sri Lankans look to improve their standing in world cricket.
