In the opening match of the World T20 tournament that began today, New Zealand pulled off a great win against hosts India. New Zealand batted first and managed to score just 126/7 in their allotted 20 overs, a poor score in a format where you need to score about 160 runs if you bat first. But India suffered a spectacular batting collapse and were all out for a mere 79, giving the Kiwis a big victory.

Tomorrow sees Bangladesh play Pakistan and England play West Indies.

Despite being the current World T20 trophy holders, I do not expect Sri Lanka to do well at all, and would not be surprised if they exited the tournament without even a single win, let along make it into the semi-finals. Their team has been highly depleted by retirements and injuries, and the problems further aggravated by fierce infighting among cricket administrator which resulted in the entire selection team being changed just days prior to the tournament.

On a brighter note, Afghanistan managed to qualify for this tournament by edging out Zimbabwe, which must be a big boost to that war-ravaged nation. They play their first match against Sri Lanka on Thursday and this could be their best chance of winning a match at this high level, following fine performances by them in the qualifying tournament while Sri Lanka’s displays leading up to this tournament can only be described as pathetic.