Scenes from the World Cup opening ceremonies

Feb 12, 2015

With two days to go for the 11th World Cup, the opening ceremony for the 2015 edition started with some backyard cricket in Christchurch•Getty Images

... A Maori cultural group lent their flair to the proceedings •ICC

The ceremony in New Zealand ended with a fireworks display that lit up the Christchurch sky•Getty Images

A giant mechanical robot built to resemble a batsman came out towards the end of the ceremony in Australia •Getty Images

Irish river dancers got the show started on stage and...•ICC

Performers walked out with flags of the participating teams amid loud cheers from the crowd•Getty Images

Meanwhile, proceedings got underway at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, witnessed by the Australian players•Getty Images

New Zealand prime minister John Key joined players from Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka on stage•Getty Images

To represent the team from the West Indies, a steel drum band performance entertained the Melbourne crowd•Getty Images