CARDIFF, WALES - JUNE 24: Australia batsman Cameron White hits out during the 2nd Natwest One Day International between England and Australia at the Swalec Stadium on June 24, 2010 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
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.
New Zealand and Sri Lanka were tasked with playing the opening match of the 2010 tournament in a group which always looked as if it was going to be tightly contested.
Sri Lanka would have the honour of batting, although they almost crumbled and fell over the start line, if not for Mahela Jayawardene who scored 81 from just 51 balls.
That aided Sri Lanka along to 6 for 135, but it looked well below par after they were 0 for 35 in the sixth over at one point.
Scoring quickly on many of the pitches at the 2010 tournament seemed something not easily done, with Tim Southee, Nathan McCullum and Daniel Vettori all going at less than four runs per over.
The chase got a whole lot more difficult in the first over though when Angelo Matthews got rid of Brendon McCullum for a duck.
Jesse Ryder held things together with 42 from 27 balls, but a regular fall of wickets had New Zealand looking well short. When Daniel Vettori was dismissed needing three runs from two balls, it looked a tough proposition, but Nathan McCullum was able to hold his nerve and smack the next ball for six to bring up what was a crucial victory in the grand scheme of things.
Weather may be the bain of cricketing existence, but it set up a thrilling early tournament clash between the hosts and England.
England went out and blasted 191 from their 20 overs, led by Eoin Morgan's 55 from 35 balls and Luke Wright's 45 from 27 balls. They were backed up by top order cameos from Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen.
Ravi Rampaul had a horrid time of it, going for 52 from his three overs, while Kieron Pollard's single over went for 16. Only Darren Sammy's 2 for 22 from four overs kept things somewhat respectable.
But then the rain struck, and struck in a big way. The West Indies chase was limited to just six overs, and they needed to go from ball one, chasing 60.
England shot themselves in the foot however with eight wides, while Chris Gayle was at his swashbuckling best with 25 from just 12 balls as the WIndies got the job done with a single ball to spare.
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.
India were right up against it when they took on Sri Lanka in a Super Eight match, and ended up falling short on the very last ball, ending their campaign.
It was hardly a poor performance with the bat from India, who batted first in the match at Gros Inlet. They ended up with 163 from their 20 overs, led by Suresh Raina, who belted 64 from just 47 balls. He was ably supported by cameos from MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir.
Over eight runs per over could have been a whole lot worse though had it not been for Lasith Malinga's 2 for 25 from four overs, and Thisara Perera's 1 for 15 from three overs.
The chase couldn't have got off to a worse start either as Ashish Nehra and Vinay Kumar got rid of dangerous opening combinations Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya for four and a duck respectively.
It left Sri Lanka at 2 for 6 off 1.5 overs, before Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara set about rebuilding the innings. By the time they were both out for 33 off 26 and 46 off 33 respectively, it was over to Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedra to get the job done, and get the job done they did.
While Matthews was run out for 46 from 37 with a ball to go, it left Kapugedra on strike for the final ball who blasted a victory to take the Sri Lankans to a famous victory.
Australia qualified for their first final of a T20 World Cup in stunning circumstances, chasing down a monstrous score against Pakistan.
Winning the toss and electing to field first, things appeared to be going rather pear-shaped for the Australians, with Pakistan cruising along to 6 for 191.
It looked as if it could have been even worse at one point, with Pakistan at one point sitting on 0 for 82 off just 9.3 overs, before Kamran Akmal (50 from 34 balls) and Salman Butt (32 from 30 balls) both got themselves out within an over and a half of each other.
Umar Akmal (56 from 35 balls) was able to push the pace however, guiding Pakistan to their score of 191. Only three surprisingly good overs from David Hussey, who took 1 for 24, and four economical overs from Shaun Tait, who conceded just 25 runs from his four overs, prevented Pakistan from flying past 200.
Australia then got off to the worst possible start as Mohammad Amir made himself known, getting rid of both David Warner and Shane Watson in the opening overs.
The runs flowed, but a regular fall of wickets left Australia at 5 for 105 off 12.3 overs when David Hussey was dismissed, leaving Michael Hussey and Cameron White at the crease.
No one could slow down the Western Australian Hussey though as he monstered 60 from just 24 balls, including six sixes to win the game with a single ball to spare in what was a thriller.