NOTTINGHAM (AFP) - Team bosses at the World Twenty20 starting on Friday are shying away from predicting the outcome because no one knows how the slam-bang version of the game will pan out.The usual noises of 'we can win this one' or how confident a team is going into the tournament have not been heard - even though most of the 12 nations taking part secretly think they can go the distance. Australia are not talking of the opposition players they will target like they do before most bilateral series and no captain is saying his route to the semi-finals is panned out. The most one hears is "we can win - if we play to our potential." Others prefer "we will take it one match at a time." The safest is "it all depends on how we play on that particular day." The cliches are pouring in thick and fast and not without reason. Cricket is an unpredictable sport, but Twenty20 cricket takes the definition to a new level.India, who abhored the shortest version of the gamme so much they wanted nothing to do with a World Twenty20, went on to win the inaugural event in South Africa in 2007.This under a new captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, without the services of senior pros like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly and after having played a solitary T20 international before that. Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers contested the final of the Indian Premier League this year with almost the same teams that finished at the bottom of the table last year. Even cricket's kings Australia were beaten by lowly Zimbabwe at the 2007 Worlds. "It's open... in the real sense of the word," said India's Dhoni. "Anything can happen in 40 overs. One person can take the game away from you. "That can happen in Tests and one-dayers also. But there you get a chance to come back. In a T20 game, there is no second chance because there is no time." Teams can ill-afford a bad day during the 17-day tournament. They must play well consistently like India did in 2007 when they thumped England, South Africa and Australia in the space of four magical days in Durban. Former England captain Mike Atherton, now a reputed cricket writer with the 'Times' newspaper, hopes the unpredictable T20 Worlds throw up a few surprises. "Before the serious business of the Super Eights and the knockout stages begin, uninterested observers pray that one of the highly professional, tick-all-the-boxes, minute-attention-to-detail teams will somehow fall arse over tit on banana skins otherwise known as the Netherlands, Scotland or Ireland," he wrote. "It is a great hoot to see the mighty stumble and fall - as long as it is not your team being humbled." Matches schedule GROUP A: India, Bangladesh, Ireland GROUP B: Pakistan, England, Netherlands GROUP C: Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies GROUP D: New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland Matches schedule June 5 England v Netherlands, Lord's June 6 New Zealand v Scotland, The Oval Australia v West Indies, The Oval India v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge June 7 South Africa v Scotland, The Oval England v Pakistan, The Oval June 8 Ireland v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge Australia v Sri Lanka, Trent Bridge June 9 Pakistan v Netherlands, Lord's New Zealand v South Africa, Lord's June 10 Sri Lanka v West Indies, Trent Bridge India v Ireland, Trent Bridge * top two in each group progress to Super Eight stage SUPER EIGHT STAGE June 11 D1 v A2, Trent Bridge B2 v D2, Trent Bridge June 12 B1 v C2, Lord's A1 v C1, Lord's June 13 C1 v D2, The Oval D1 v B1, The Oval June 14 A2 v C2, Lord's A1 v B2, Lord's June 15 B2 v C1, The Oval B1 v A2, The Oval June 16 D1 v C2, Trent Bridge D2 v A1, Trent Bridge KNOCK-OUT STAGE June 18 First semi-final, Trent Bridge June 19 Second semi-final, The Oval June 21 Final, Lord's (1500).