NARAYANGANJ, BANGLADESH - MARCH 26: Brad Hogg and Brad Hodge of Australia look on during an Australian ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 training session at Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium on March 26, 2014 in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The very first T20 World Cup, played in South Africa, saw 12 teams take part for the honour of being crowned the inaugural champions.

Still a relatively new format of the sport, it gave opportunities for games which were able to be changed in an instant as the world began to fall in love with the new shortest format of cricket.

The IPL would be born the following year, with much of its success put down to the holding of this first World Cup tournament, which took the sub-continent by storm in particular.

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That, of course, was helped by India getting the better of Pakistan in an enthralling final match.

A total of 27 matches were played, with the ten Test-playing nations (Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, England and the West Indies) joined by qualifiers Kenya and Scotland.

Here are five matches which stand out as the best from that original tournament, featuring plenty of cricket’s greatest ever stars.

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5. South Africa club the West Indies in tournament opener

It would be little surprise that the first-ever T20 World Cup match featured a Chris Gayle blitz. The West Indian opening batsman, who may go down as the greatest short-form player of all time, whacked 117 off just 57 balls to get the tournament rolling at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

While none of his teammates fired, they didn't need to. The hosts were flattened, with Shaun Pollock going for 52 runs from his four overs.

But just when you thought the game was gone, with South Africa needing 206 from their 20 overs - a score which in the early days of T20 cricket was always going to be difficult to chase - the batsmen came out and went on their own blitz against a poor West Indian bowling attack.

Herschelle Gibbs was the chief destroyer, scoring 90 from just 55 balls at a strike rate of 163, while the West Indies punched themselves over and over again with 28 sundries.

A powerful lower-order cameo from Justin Kemp, who monstered 46 runs from just 22 balls, saw South Africa chase down the enormous total with 14 balls to spare and eight wickets in hand in a run chase which set the tone for the tournament, and saw the phrase "nothing is impossible in T20 cricket" uttered by commentators.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 24: Chris Gayle of West Indies celebrates his double century during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup match between the West Indies and Zimbabwe at Manuka Oval on February 24, 2015 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
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