KEY POINTS:
You could almost feel the collective shudder ... a seismic wave that rippled through the hearts of the main World Cup contenders and left the New Zealand camp - among others - on full alert.
If anything was calculated to refocus Kiwi minds after the heady win over England at the weekend, it was yesterday morning's news that Ireland had eliminated Pakistan from the tournament and Bangladesh had beaten heavyweights India.
These results might have been great news for the emerging cricketing nations and for World Cup organisers keen to see an open contest, but imagine the effect they'll have on the leaders.
It wasn't just that two of the minnows had made good, it was that they'd prospered courtesy of bowler-friendly pitches and early-morning starts.
Admittedly, Bangladesh were also given an outrageous advantage after Indian skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat first, but the fact remains that the theme of both upsets was the same - team bowls first; team wins.
Ireland rolled Pakistan for 132 in 45.5 overs at Kingston and won by three wickets on a marginally altered Duckworth-Lewis calculation, and India battled to 191 at Port of Spain then went down by five wickets.
Add the experience at St Lucia on Saturday morning, when New Zealand sacked England for 209 then won by six wickets, and it appears that the concerns about conditions in the West Indies are well-founded.
This, at least, should come as no surprise because of the virgin pitches being used.
They might play slow and low, they might offer turn and sometimes - when they're damp - they might provide oodles of seam movement.
But it's hard to imagine any new surface favouring the batsmen.
The fresh doubts in Group C will now almost certainly be focused on Kenya, who swept aside Canada in their first match and will play New Zealand on Wednesday morning and England on Friday.
Widely regarded as the second-best associate nation side after Bangladesh, Kenya are useful enough to take advantage of an influential toss, and have already caused a World Cup upset, by beating Sri Lanka in 2003.
It was that result, combined with New Zealand's refusal to play a World Cup game in Nairobi because of security concerns, that gave the East African nation a famous semifinals berth.
On this occasion, there could be at least one and possibly two weaker sides in the "Super 8s", which could shorten the second round in terms of a race and increase the advantage for the four group winners.
For example, presuming New Zealand beat Kenya and Canada and finish at the top of Group C, they would carry two points through to a second round competition that would involve only four tough games instead of six.
New Zealand also appear one of the teams better-equipped to handle the conditions should they find themselves put in to the bat first.
They bat deep into their order, have enough experience to assess and read a pitch, have slow bowlers to make life difficult for the chasers, and - in Shane Bond - have a strike-bowler of class.
Their win on Saturday looks even more valuable after the subsequent upsets, and leaves England only one loss away from early elimination.
This might seem improbable after their tri-series success against Australia a month ago, but Pakistan are out and India will follow unless they can beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Suddenly, it appears, anything is possible.
World Cup upsets
1979 Sri Lanka (5-283) beat India (191) by 47 runs at Manchester, England.
1983 Zimbabwe (6-239) beat Australia (7-226) by 13 runs at Nottingham, England.
1996 Kenya (166) beat West Indies (93) by 73 runs at Poona, India.
1999 Bangladesh (9-223) beat Pakistan (161) by 62 runs at Northampton, England.
2003 Canada (180) beat Bangladesh (120) by 60 runs at Durban, South Africa.
2003 Kenya (9-210) beat Sri Lanka (157) by 53 runs at Nairobi, Kenya.
2007 Bangladesh (5-192) beat India (191) by 5 wickets at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
2007 Ireland (7-133) beat Pakistan (132) by 3 wickets at Kingston, Jamaica.
