The last time an international cricket tournament was held in the West Indies, it was a turgid, unmitigated disaster. However, if the opening game of the ICC World Twenty20 2010 is anything to go by, the ghosts of the 2007 World Cup won't be making a reappearance. New Zealand scratched their way to a two-wicket win against Sri Lanka in a match that ebbed and flowed both ways, and got the 2010 World Cup off to a very good start.

Mahela Jayawardene opened the batting with Tillekeratne Dilshan, and while Dilshan's poor form continued (bowled for 3 off 19), Jayawardene played a typically classy knock on his way to 81, his highest score in Twenty20 Internationals. Aside from debutant Dinesh Chandimal (29), none of the other batsmen stuck around. Scoring was difficult on the sluggish Providence wicket, with the Sri Lankan 50 coming up in the 10th over.

Going into the last over, Sri Lanka were 128/4, but could only score seven from it, as Shane Bond took two wickets in three balls. Sri Lanka finished their innings at 135/6; Jayawardene top-scored at 81, and Bond was the most successful New Zealand bowler with two wickets.

With 136 to win, the Kiwis sent Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder to open. McCullum didn't last long, spooning Mathews to midwicket in what turned out to be a wicket maiden. The Black Caps took the momentum back with 11 runs off debutant Chanaka Welegedera's first over. As New Zealand cruised along (their 50 came up in the 8th over), the pressure started to get to the Sri Lankans, with relatively simple run-out chances being missed. 

Muralitharan and Jayasuria bowled both Ryder (42) and Martin Guptill (19) in consecutive overs.  From there, the runs started to dry up for the Kiwis, as Murali got Ross Taylor for 9. With 41 required off 24 balls, Ajantha Mendis sent  Scott Styris back for 17, but new batsman Jacob Oram smacked him for two consecutive sixes that same over. 20 from 12, and after being pasted in his first over, Welegedera bowled Oram - advantage Sri Lanka. Gareth Hopkins was run-out off the next ball, but skipper Daniel Vettori swiped a boundary, and Nathan McCullum scrambled three runs off a missed run-out chance, leaving New Zealand 10 runs to get off the final six balls. 

Trusting Lasith Malinga's death-bowling instincts, Sangakkara gave the ball to his main pace striker. After taking a single, Vettori ran for a bye, and Malinga missed a basic run-out chance, with all three stumps to aim and the batsman nowhere near the crease. McCullum swept a boundary for four to make it 4 required off 3 balls, before Vettori ran himself out. Requiring 3 from 2 with two wickets left, Nathan McCullum flat-batted a low six over long off to take New Zealand home.

It may have lacked the flair and pizzazz of the Indian Premier League, but I daresay this single match made up for it with far more entertainment and thrills. The slow pitches in the West Indies will hopefully redress the imbalance between bat and ball that Twenty20 creates, and to see Angelo Mathews' wicket maiden and Ross Taylor's brilliant catch suggests that we're in for a competitive, fighting tournament.