T-20 World Cup 2010

New Zealand 36 for 1 beat Zimbabwe 84 (McCullum 3-16, Styris 3-5) by seven runs by D/L method

Zimbabwe came into the tournament as one of the form teams after shocking Pakistan and Australia in the warm-ups, but they subsided to one of the lowest Twenty20 totals against New Zealand to become the first team to bow out of the competition. After making a sprightly start, they collapsed spectacularly - losing eight wickets for sixteen runs - to ease New Zealand's path to the Super Eights.

With rain hampering play in Guyana for the second day in a row, Zimbabwe's entire campaign in the West Indies lasted only 48.2 overs. Though the end was not as farcical as the near-darkness climax to the 2007 World Cup final, they was plenty of confusion before the match ended: after play was initially halted 8.1 overs into the chase, the teams came back onto the field an hour and a half later, expecting to play a couple of overs and complete the game. The players stood around for a few minutes before officials decided no more play was possible, declaring New Zealand winners.

On the field, Nathan McCullum was the hero for New Zealand again. After his all-round heroics against Sri Lanka on Friday, he swept through the Zimbabwe middle-order to collect his second successive Man-of-the-Match award. The quick offspinners of Scott Styris also scooped up three wickets in an over to hasten the end of the innings.

Such a limp finish didn't seem likely after Zimbabwe's openers defied New Zealand on a Providence pitch offering plenty of turn. At 57 for 1 in the seventh over, things were looking good for Zimbabwe, but a sharp bit of fielding from Jacob Oram and Gareth Hopkins started the slide. Hamilton Masakadza, one of the biggest-hitters in the Zimbabwe line-up, swung the ball towards deep square leg, where Oram moved quickly to his left and fired in a slightly wayward throw; Hopkins collected yards in front of the stumps and under-armed it to catch a diving Masakadza short.

West Indies 60 for 2 (Gayle 25) beat England 191 for 5 (Morgan 55, Wright 45*) - D/L method

West Indies booked their place in the Super Eights with a controversial rain-assisted victory over England at Providence, as Chris Gayle justified his decision to bowl first with a fiery but shortlived 25 from 12 balls - an innings that proved sufficient, under the provisions of Duckworth-Lewis, to carry West Indies to a revised target of 60 in six overs, after England had produced arguably their finest batting display in the format's history to post an imposing 191 for 5.

England's defeat should not prove costly in the long run, so long as they overcome Ireland in their second group match on Tuesday, but it was nevertheless an unfortunate way for a beautifully poised contest to unravel - and for England it was a case of history repeating itself, after West Indies eliminated them from the last World Twenty20 in a similar scenario at The Oval in June.

The result was more or less a foregone conclusion from the moment that the D/L calculators were brought into play. While the method is unrivalled as a means of resolving rain interruptions in 50-over cricket, it is not so well suited to the hustle and bustle of the 20-over format. It just so happened that the match did come down to the wire - Andre Fletcher eventually sealed it with a pulled four through midwicket with one ball to spare - but it had been a nervy denouement. In a full-length contest, West Indies' challenge might well have petered out as soon as Gayle pulled Michael Yardy to short midwicket in the fourth over.

Instead, Gayle's brief intercession proved sufficient to puncture England's spirits after a hugely impressive performance with the bat. Eoin Morgan top-scored with 55 from 35 balls, and was joined in an 95-run stand for the fifth wicket by Luke Wright, who made 45 from 27, to close the innings with the same positive intent shown by their rookie opening pairing of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, who showcased their boundary-clearing abilities with scores of 28 from 18 balls and 26 from 14 respectively.

Nevertheless, with rain in the air, Gayle knew exactly how to pace his reply, and turned on the afterburner. Ryan Sidebottom was dispatched for 15 in an opening over in which he beat the bat three times and found the edge once, only to ruin his good work with a leg-side wide and two half-volleys that were belted over the covers for four and six. And at the other end, Shivnarine Chanderpaul turned his stance inside-out to sweep Graeme Swann over point for another six, as England conceded 30 runs in 2.2 overs, and with it, the contest.

Collingwood was understandably frustrated after the match, but England had plenty reason to be proud of their performance. Their total of 11 sixes was a national record for the format, and though neither of the new boys, Kieswetter or Lumb, was able to build on their starts, their alliance was an undoubted success, as demonstrated by England's Powerplay total of 60 for 1, the highest six-over score of the tournament (until West Indies trumped it in their brief reply).

England 127 for 3 (Bopara 62) beat Bangladesh 126 for 7 (Yardy 3-20) by seven wickets

England maintained their 100% record in international fixtures against Bangladesh as they launched their World Twenty20 preparations with a comfortable seven-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval. The left-arm spinner Michael Yardy was the star of the show with 3 for 20 in his four overs, before Ravi Bopara marked his return to the national side with a calm 62 from 48 balls, to seal the contest with 17 balls to spare.

Having recently completed their tour of Bangladesh, England knew exactly what to expect from their opponents, and were rarely less than in control of the contest - even though they started a touch sloppily. Imrul Kayes slammed his second ball of the innings from James Anderson over midwicket for six, only to be reprieved by Stuart Broad in the same over.

Broad then overstepped as Mohammad Ashraful top-edged a pull to be caught by the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, but Kayes fell soon afterwards, caught at third man off Anderson for 14, before the introduction of the spinners cemented England's dominance.

Yardy claimed his first international wicket for almost three years when Ashraful was caught down the leg-side, and he doubled his tally as Aftab Ahmed holed out to Tim Bresnan for 8. In his next over, Shakib Al Hasan was bowled for 7, and when Mushfiqur Rahim was crassly run out for 2, the backbone of the innings had been broken, even though Mahmudullah hung around for a useful 38 not out from 31 balls.

The run-chase was launched by two Twenty20 debutants, Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, who are set to be England's 16th opening pairing in 26 matches when their tournament proper gets underway against West Indies on Monday. Lumb, however, wasn't able to mark his moment in style - he reached 8 from 10 balls before carving Syed Rasel to point.

Kieswetter gave a hint of the fireworks that could follow later in the competition when he blazed a massive six over the imposing 3Ws stand, but on 22 he was bowled neck and crop by a ripper from Shakib that lured him down the track and spun viciously past his flailing bat.

But Bopara and the captain Paul Collingwood guarded against any mishaps in a dominant but measured third-wicket stand of 71 in 56 balls. The only anticlimax from England's point of view came when Bopara ran himself out with the scores level, but by then the job had been done.