From the hustle and bustle of Dhaka, the scene moved to quiet Nairobi. Where 40,000 people could pack in at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka, the Nairobi Gymkhana barely accommodated 15,000. Yet, that didn’t take anything away from the second edition of the ICC Knockout.
This edition had hosts Kenya and Bangladesh too taking part. Neither were expected to get past the first round and they didn’t. But their matches against India and England provided a good start.

Two teams found themselves on a roll in this tournament. Both New Zealand and India, fielding young sides, went from strength to strength. While New Zealand knocked out fancied Pakistan, India got the better of Australia and South Africa.

Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and new find Yuvraj Singh stole the show with their aggressive and powerful batting to make it second time unlucky for the Aussies before defending champions South Africa were accounted for.

The trophy though went New Zealand’s way. The Indians seemed to have the match sealed when Chris Cairns produced a magical innings to take the match away. It was Stephen Fleming led New Zealand’s first one-day triumph of any worth and a fully deserved one.