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Hyderabad - New Zealand cricket coach Steve Rixon is seldom lost for words but he struggled to express the hurt he felt when his side were eliminated from the Independence Cup quadrangular one- day series yesterday (NZ time).

New Zealand squandered a strong position to hand Sri Lan- ka a commanding 52-run win at Lal Bahadur Stadium to see the World Cup holder advance to the best-of-three final against ei- ther host India or Pakistan.

The Kiwis were comfortably placed at 97 for two in the 26th over chasing Sri Lanka's 214 when, not for the first time this sea- son, the wheels fell off.

The sudden loss of four wickets for 23 runs in the space of 58 balls derailed the Kiwi cause.

``The situation was well in hand. All it called for was some commonsense batting,'' Rixon later said, reviewing the ashes of another match New Zealand let slip from their grasp.

``Ours was a very poor thinking game. We didn't put our think- ing caps on at all.

``We just didn't think about it enough and there were some poor options in our shots.

``Even at 97 for three when Stephen Fleming went out we were still in with a good show. We had depth in our batting and only had to play reasonably well.''

New Zealand did not reach a reasonable standard though as the Sri Lankan slow bowlers, aided by a pitch slow in pace and recep- tive to spin, proved difficult to get away.

New Zealand's resistance from there on was minimal, Chris Cairns making only six, debutant Craig McMillan (10) and Adam Parore (9) before Chris Harris flung his bat for 26 not out in as many balls before the innings was terminated on 162 in the 45th over.

The match had started in promising fashion for New Zealand when it restricted the world champion after newcomer Shayne O'Connor marked his international one-day debut by taking three for 44. Medi- um pacer Gavin Larsen, too, was his usual self, claiming three for 43 as the New Zealand bowlers dominated.