KEY POINTS:
Listen. Can you hear the deafening silence? It's coming from those UFO-spotters who can't usually accept an upset result without starting up a tiresome bleat about match-fixing and corruption.
Where are they now, those knee-jerk artists? They were in full voice a couple of weeks ago when the Irish bagged Pakistan and Bangladesh turned over India, shrieking to the heavens about devious deals and backroom agreements.
That was the best aspect of Bangladesh's stunning upset over South Africa yesterday; not just that they blew the semifinals race wide open, but also that they made fools of those who so quickly assume the most jaundiced point of view.
Pakistan didn't throw their game against Ireland; India didn't deliberately fold against Bangladesh, and certainly South Africa weren't harbouring any ulterior motive when they were ambushed at Providence Stadium yesterday.
You'd think only the clinically insane would believe teams were prepared to be prematurely eliminated from the world's third biggest sporting tournament for what would be a relatively modest amount of cash, but they're out there all right.
There are still people convinced that the Pakistan-Ireland game was fixed and that Bob Woolmer was killed by people associated with the deals, despite growing suspicion that the initial finding of homicide was flawed.
Bangladesh at least put a sock in the gob of all those Inspector Morse types yesterday, demonstrating yet again that cricket is still a game of degrees, and that it takes only a very slight shift in balance to cause an enormous swing.
The upset means South Africa's World Cup dream is now under direct attack and that Bangladesh, who have yet to play England, Ireland and the West Indies, are still in contention for an unlikely semifinals finish.
South Africa have only four points at the halfway point of the second round, and will need to win two of their last three games to be in contention, or all three to be sure.
Their next game is against the West Indies, followed by a showdown against New Zealand in Grenada, after which they'll end their Super Eights campaign with a game against England at Barbados.
The biggest benefactors of South Africa's slip-up could be either England or the West Indies, both of whom are struggling for survival and are drawn to meet each other in the last game of the second round.
The West Indies need to win all three of their remaining games against South Africa, Bangladesh and England to get to the eight-point threshold, at which point they're likely to find themselves in a run-rate count-back with other teams.
England, depending on the result of this morning's encounter with Australia, might also need to win their final three Super Eights appointments against Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies.
This is all good news for New Zealand, or at least it will be as long as they manage to knock over Ireland tomorrow morning; moving to eight points on the ladder and setting themselves up for a three-game finale in Grenada.
And whom should we thank for all this uncertainty? Bangladesh of course, for proving once again that there are no certainties in sport, and that upsets do happen.
Long may the silence reign.
