The third edition of the shortest format’s World Cup brought with it a trip to the Carribean, and Afghanistan’s first appearance on the big stage.
The tournament was played only 12 months after the previous World Cup, with the Champions Trophy which was originally delayed from Pakistan in 2008 being moved due to security concerns, and then shortened to a 20-over format.
Afghanistan became the first affiliate member team to ever play in a top-tier ICC tournament (i.e. ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy etc) and were joined by Ireland who made their second appearance in a row after surprising the world to make the quarter-finals just 12 months earlier.
Zimbabwe also made their return after missing the 2009 tournament, with the Netherlands and Scotland both missing out.
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The tournament brought with it some very high-scoring games and close cricket between the world’s best, but was also hampered by plenty of ugly weather during the group stage. Luckily, it cleared for the finals.
It also saw Australia and England both make the final for the first time (and for Australia, so far, the only time), although that became a bit of a non-event as England took home the chocolates.
Here are the top five matches from the 2010 T20 World Cup.
3. New Zealand heap pressure on Pakistan in one run thriller
Not even Brandon McCullum could find a groove in a low-scoring mid-tournament match which threatened to knock Pakistan clean out of contention for a spot in the semi-finals.
After losing their opening game of the Super Eight, both New Zealand and Pakistan manned desperation stations ahead of this clash in Barbados.
New Zealand would be sent in on a pitch not conducive to high-scoring cricket, and while McCullum made 33, it barely came at a run a ball. The rest of the top order were sent packing easily with Mohammed Sami leading the way.
Daniel Vettori (38 off 34) and Scott Styris (21 off 17) eventually settled the ship, but New Zealand could only get to 133 from their 20 overs, with all of the Pakistani bowlers doing a strong job in the economical stakes.
It hardly made a difference though. The pitch was tough to bat on, and only Salman Butt passed 50 in the entire contest. Even his 67 from 54 not out wasn't enough for Pakistan though as they fell a run short despite a late surge from Abdul Razzaq.
Ian Butler led the way for the bowlers, taking 3 for 19 from four overs, while Nathan McCullum also went at under five runs per over.
In a cruel twist for the Black Caps however, they'd go on to lose their final Super Eight clash against England to be bundled out of the tournament on net run rate as Pakistan managed to go past South Africa.
