A solid all-round performance by Vanuatu saw them to a hard-fought four-wicket victory over the Cayman Islands at Frinton-on-Sea on Monday, getting their Group B campaign off to a promising start.

Meanwhile, the future of the group was cast into uncertainty by the failure of Saudi Arabia's failure to arrive in time for the opening round, the victims of unexplained delays.

They are scheduled to take on the Caymans at Feering on Tuesday, and with Wednesday scheduled as a reserve day there is at least a theoretical possibility that the schedule will get back on track.

Having won the toss and elected to bat the Caymans were well place at one stage, on 86 for two in the 25th over, their innings spearheaded by Sacha De Alwis's 110-ball half-century.

They had received a setback, however, when Apollinaire Stephen dismissed Ramon Sealy and Omar Willis with consecutive deliveries, and once De Alwis fell to Simpson Obed for 57 the initative passed to Vanuatu's varied attack.

Ryan Bovell made 27, sharing a 29-run stand with Darren Cato, but his dismissal, caught by Stephen off Niko Unavalu, triggered a dramatic collapse and the last six wickets fell for a mere 6 runs as the Caymans were bundled out for 154.

Skipper Andrew Mansale took three for 30 for Vanuatu and Stephen three for 16.

It was a modest total, but when Vanuatu slumped to 44 for four it appeared that the Caymans might nevertheless be in with a chance.

Mansale and wicket-keeper Trevor Langa brought their side back into the game with a 62-run stand for the fifth wicket, but then Mansale was caught for 34 off the bowling of debutant Adrian Wright, and when Langa also fell, bowled for 32 by veteran Bovell three overs later, the match again hung in the balance at 114 for six.

41 runs were still needed, but Vanuatu had plenty of overs to play with, and Simpson Obed and Patrick Matautaava steadily batted their way towards their target, completing the task with ten overs to spare.

Obed finished on 28, made from 42 deliveries with two fours and a six, while Matautaava took just 22 deliveries for his 19, hitting a single boundary.