“As far as the World Cup is concerned, it is a process. We don't want to jump to the 50th floor straight away. We must start on the ground floor.”

— Sachin Tendulkar

When the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to have a qualifying competition before the main course of the ongoing World Twenty20, the two most likely nations tipped to make the cut were Bangladesh and Ireland with Zimbabwe and Afghanistan thrown in as other serious contenders among the remaining six participants.

But at the conclusion of the qualifying phase that prophecy barely revealed half the story as hosts Bangladesh suffered the rudest of shocks on their way to the Super-10 round. However, even that was eclipsed by the Netherlands who suddenly emerged from nowhere on the last day of the qualifiers to gatecrash into the main round with an astonishing performance previously unheard of.

Here we look how the eight qualifiers fared.