Afghanistan glimpsed the greatest victory of their short international history before Sri Lanka dragged themselves over the line in Dunedin by four wickets with 10 balls to spare - and the finish was tenser than that suggests.
With nuggety wicketkeeper Gary Wilson for company, the big-hitting Kevin O'Brien set right the mess he had left Ireland in with some ordinary plans and bowling at the death.
Sri Lanka have finally made themselves heard, twelve days into the World Cup. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara did most of the talking through their bats, hammering centuries that set up a 92-run win over Bangladesh at the MCG.
This was the match the 2015 World Cup was crying out for, a competitive contest between two major sides, and the co-hosts played out a thriller in front of a packed and partisan Auckland crowd.
Sri Lanka made a chase of 310 seem like a weekend stroll in the park as Kumar Sangakkara unfurled a majestic hundred, his second of the tournament, alongside Lahiru Thirimanne's fourth ODI ton.
David Warner cruised to 178, Steven Smith collected 95 and Glenn Maxwell clobbered 88 to propel Australia to a World Cup record 417 for 8 in Perth, paving the way for a 275-run win, the second largest in ODI history.
At Bellerive Oval, Kumar Sangakkara became the first man in ODI history to score centuries in four consecutive innings, and together with Tillakaratne Dilshan ensured a comfortable win over Scotland.
On a suitably hangdog English day, more downcast than overcast, and a match ravaged by rain, an Ian Bell fifty led England to victory with nine wickets to spare.
West Indies needed to overhaul a target of 176 in 36.2 overs or less to make the quarter-finals barring a tie in Adelaide and they did that without much incident.
