Due to England and New Zealand's refusing to travel to Zimbabwe and Kenya respectively, both Kenya and Zimbabwe progressed to the Super Sixes stage, with the Kenyans even making the last four - ahead of the likes of South Africa, Pakistan and England.

This effectively made a farce of the whole tournament, although the Kenyans did become the darlings of the tournament.

KEY SA MOMENTS:

(1) Lara smashes SA - again: After reducing the West Indies to 7/2 after seven overs, things were looking good for the hosts - but Brian Lara put the Windies back in the game with a superb 116, as they reached 278/5 off their 50 overs. Due to a slow over rate, the Proteas were docked one over.

The chase was a close affair in the end, but when the Proteas needed five off the last over, with the devastating Lance Klusener at the wicket, it looked all over. But paceman Vasbert Drakes had other ideas; dismissing Klusener as the Proteas stumbled to 275/9 off their 49 overs. Lara and SA's World Cup curse strike again!

(2) How many runs are needed? Thanks to a fine hundred by Marvan Atapattu (124), Sri Lanka scored a very competitive 268/9 off their 50 overs.

A huge thunderstorm loomed over Kingsmead, and it became clear that the dreaded Duckworth/Lewis system was going to decide the winner. After 45 overs the South African score needed to be at 230. Due to an awful mix-up between the coaching staff and the players in the middle (yes, even pros can make simple mistakes), the total relayed to the batsmen was 229.

With the score on 229/6 after 44.5 overs, Proteas wicketkeeper Mark Boucher duly blocked the last ball of the 45th over, thinking that they had won the match (remember a lost wicket would have affected the Duckworth/Lewis score). Elation, however, very soon turned into horror and tears when it was discovered that the Proteas only tied the match and therefore did not qualify for the Super Sixes.