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Bopara - almost won it for England.
Ravi Bopara's heart sank after coming so close to beating Sri Lanka and putting England bang on course for a World Cup semi-final place.
Bopara needed just one more good shot off the final ball of the Super Eight match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium - but instead, he was bowled trying to hit the boundary which would have won it.
He finished with 52 in a two-run defeat - and the man-of-the-match award was little consolation to the 21-year-old Essex all-rounder.
"I'm just really, really disappointed," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"My heart was set to win, and it's just in the pit of my stomach now."
It looked highly unlikely England would come anywhere near victory when Bopara and Paul Nixon came together at 133 for six, chasing 236 to win.
But they chivvied one another along in an 87-run stand in 15 overs - and even after Nixon had gone, Bopara kept England in it to the last.
Asked at what point he thought England could nick an unlikely victory, he said: "All the way. When I went in I thought if we knock it around for six-an-over...
"I know that's difficult with guys like [Muttiah] Muralitharan at the other end, but sometimes you've just got to take a chance against those guys and hope it comes off."
Like Bopara, captain Michael Vaughan gave great credit to the whole team for a performance which showed plenty of grit and so nearly did the job.
"We are obviously gutted to have lost such a tight game, but I think we can be quite proud of the way we played," he said.
"No one gave us any hope today. Everyone wrote us off, and we came out and pushed a very good Sri Lanka team right to the end."
Sajid Mahmood took four wickets for England, and Kevin Pietersen (58) and Ian Bell then shared a 90-run third-wicket stand.
The captain made it clear he valued the effort of each and every one of his team.
"I thought we were excellent with the ball," he said.
England's reply was in big trouble from very early on, however, as they slumped to 11 for two.
"Unfortunately, we just didn't play well enough at the top," Vaughan admitted, before paying his own tribute to Bopara.
"It was down to an outstanding partnership between Nixon and Bopara that we got so near," he said.
"I think we may have found a player in Ravi Bopara - that was a special innings."
"I've always seen something in him. I saw him at the Academy before Christmas, and he's a hell of a talent," said the captain.
"At one point it was doom and gloom - there was no way we were getting anywhere near that total.
"But those two played very intelligently, and I always thought in that last over we were getting over the line.
"For Ravi to play the way he did in front of this many people, in this sort of environment, is a great credit to him. It was a gem of an innings from such a young player. He has a bright future."
Vaughan must now pick his team up in time for their third Super Eight match, against favourites Australia on Sunday.
The defeat means England need to beat the Aussies to give themselves a fighting chance of a last-four spot.
"We can take a lot of positives from this but we haven't got the two points," said Vaughan.
"We knew how big a game this was - and now we must try to get those two points against the Aussies on Sunday."
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene admitted he was a worried man when Bopara and Nixon were still together in the penultimate over.
"I've played against Ravi before and seen Paul on television - I know he's a guy who takes his chances," he said.
"I knew exactly what they were doing - but when they are going they are difficult to stop.
"We needed to get a wicket while also stopping the runs - and we just couldn't get it until Lasith Malinga's final over, which was the key."
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