Now the Champions Trophy starts for real.
With the four minnows now out of contention, the eight title contenders chase semifinal places in one-day cricket's "mini World Cup" with Australia first to get there by beating New Zealand by seven wickets on Thursday in the first group showdown at the Oval.
Andrew Symonds and Damien Martyn combined in an unbeaten 100 partnership as Australia cruised to 199 for three with 12.5 overs to spare after the Black Caps had made 1998 in their 50 overs.
The only incident to mar the game was a field invasion by around 12 jubilant Australian fans who broke through security.
After that it's England vs. Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Friday, South Africa vs. West Indies at the Oval Saturday and the most hotly contested game of all -- India vs. Pakistan -- at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Although they are still group games, it's effectively straight knockout from now on, the matches deciding which team tops each group and advances to the semifinal.
The semifinal lineups will be Australia vs. England or Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on Tuesday. And South Africa or West Indies against either India or Pakistan at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
Because the first eight games were so lopsided, it's difficult to gauge the form of the survivors.
World champion Australia only had to score 66 runs to beat the United States after bowling out the rookie for 65 at the Rose Bowl. Ricky Ponting's men won by nine wickets and even beat a strong New Zealand team at a canter at the Oval after the Kiwis had to recover from 89-7.
"I'd have to concede that Australia are the favorites," New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said. The bookmakers agree. They now make the world champion a 5-6 favorite to win the "mini World Cup" for the first time.
"It was a great win for us today," Australia captain Ricky Ponting said. "We were very tough with the ball, we fielded really well, then what we did with the bat was first class."
England needed two days to beat Zimbabwe at Edgbaston but that was because of rain. Michael Vaughan's team eventually scored 299 for seven to win by 152 runs.
England's one-day form has been patchy although Vaughan's men beat a strong Indian squad 2-1 just before the Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka's four-wicket victory over the Zimbabweans was a lot closer but only because the southern Africans, who had five teenagers in the lineup, recovered from 85-6 to 184-7. Zimbabwe eventually made 191 and Sri Lanka, despite slipping to 54-3, made that target with more than six overs to spare.
India's score of 290-4 at the Rose Bowl was far too tough for Kenya which did well to reach 192-7. The Kenyans also gave Pakistan a fright on Wednesday with a second wicket stand of 65. But a dramatic collapse from 67-1 to 94 all out allowed Pakistan to cruise to a seven wicket victory.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said his team has improved considerably since it was eliminated in the first round of group games at last year's World Cup in South Africa.
"After the World Cup the boys worked really hard and now we feel we are on track and a good one-day team," Inzamam said. "Our hopes for this tournament are very high."
An opening stand of 192 by Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds was the platform for the West Indies' 138-run victory over Bangladesh at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. Brian Lara's team went on to score 269 for three and then his bowlers dismissed Bangladesh for 131.
RSS