304 is a lot of runs to chase, especially against an attack having the variety offered by Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga.
The Rediff.com expert didn't think West Indies could score too many more than 260. So the innings opened with a pressure index (PI) of 138.
In many ways this match reminded you of the India-Sri Lanka match. Like Robin Uthappa, Chris Gayle tried to be adventurous and fell. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was batting a bit like Sourav Ganguly, and when Brian Lara fell, cheaply like Sachin Tendulkar, the match was effectively over.
Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan lingered pointlessly for almost 25 overs, with the PI hovering around 150. What was the big idea?
This story had only one ending. Once Sarwan departed, there was a familiar procession back to the pavilion. WI had lost horribly by 113 runs. If it's any consolation, India only lost by 69 runs.
Sunil T and Sunil Patil of Cranes Software helped create this pressure map based on the details retrieved from the Rediff scorer
© 2024 Rediff.com -