A target of 236 for England against Sri Lanka's formidable bowling attack didn't seem easy to get. The rediff.com expert reckoned that England would struggle beyond 220.
England thus opened with a pressure index (PI) of 118.
The PI soon jumped to 137 as skipper Vaughan returned with a duck after facing just three balls (imagine what our TV channels would've called him if he was an Indian player!).
Joyce fell soon there after and England's PI rose to a grim 147.
Bell and Pietersen began to pick up the pieces and at 100/2 after 25 overs, the PI was just 105. A good team would win from here!
Not England, though. Bell soon ran himself out to raise the PI to 117 and then they let Murali bowl a maiden over to send the PI past 120. 12 runs off the 30th over from Malinga brought the PI down to 111 and renewed England's hopes.
Fernando returned for his second spell and got Flintoff and Collingwood in quick succession. The PI was 151 and England looked defeated.
Nixon and Bopara nearly pulled it off; and when 5 runs were needed from 3 balls, the PI was just over 125. Two runs off the next two balls sent the PI soaring upwards and Bopara's last ball dismissal wasn't particularly surprising: one always expects England to lose tough matches.
Sunil T and Sunil Patil of Cranes Software created this pressure map based on the details retrieved from the Rediff scorer.
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