290 was a massive target on a slow pitch against Muttiah Muralitharan and company. The Rediff.com expert didn't expect New Zealand to get past 240. The pressure index (PI) therefore opened at 144.
Stephen Fleming had to fire if New Zealand were to stay in the game, but Lasith Malinga blew him away. The PI jumped to 155.
Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton could only crawl as Chaminda Vaas and Malinga posed the Kiwis a bagful of problems. It was a relief when Dilhara Fernando replaced Malinga. But, at the other end, Vaas got Taylor. The PI stood at 154.
Scott Styris, who had a marvellous World Cup, briefly took the battle back to Sri Lanka especially during the period when Fernando was wayward. At 105/2, with a PI of 125, New Zealand might have sensed a chance. But Styris's patience -- his greatest virtue -- once again deserted him. He charged down the wicket to Tillakaratne Dilshan (he had committed the same mistake against Glenn McGrath!) and perished.
Murali and Sanath Jayasuriya then mercilessly cut through the New Zealand batting. As they tottered at 116/7, New Zealand's PI was 185. Their World Cup campaign had all but ended.
Sunil T and Sunil Patil of Cranes Software created this pressure map based on the details retrieved from the Rediff scorer
