It wasn't clear what was Sri Lanka's big idea in dropping Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas (or whether it was a "big idea" at all in the first place), but defending a target of 227 against Australia was never going to be easy (with or without Murali and Vaas).
The rediff.com expert reckoned that Australia could get to 260 in 50 overs. The pressure index (PI) therefore opened at 66.
Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden began in their typically explosive fashion to reach 15/0 after 2 overs. The PI dropped to 60.
The next three overs fetched Australia only three runs, and the PI rose modestly to 67.
But between overs 6-10, the two openers hit 41 runs to bring the PI down to 50.
Hayden's dismissal didn't even register a blip on the pressure map; Australia had too much "resource" remaining even after Hayden's loss.
When Gilchrist too perished soon there after, the PI climbed from 51 to 61.
But then Ponting, first with Clarke and then with Symonds, batted with that perfect blend of aggression and caution to steer Australia safely home.
If it goes on like this, Ponting the skipper will never know what it is to lose a World Cup match. The Aussies are looking awesome.
Sunil T and Sunil Patil of Cranes Software created this pressure map based on the details retrieved from the Rediff scorer.
