England has pulled out of Thursday's match against Zimbabwe in Harare.
But England, who faced forfeiting its World Cup points from the Harare fixture, was thrown a life-line with the announcement that a special technical committee would be reconvened to hear fresh evidence about the security situation in Zimbabwe.
On Tuesday night Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC) said: "We are disappointed that the match is not going ahead as we were very keen that all the matches in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya be played.
"The ECB said it would not play the match and accordingly the ICC cancelled the fixture."
Zimbabwe has already indicated that it would not sacrifice any of its home matches to play a relocated fixture outside Zimbabwe.
Six of the 54 World Cup matches were allocated to Zimbabwe. Two have been played.
There also have been rumblings that Zimbabwe and South Africa could pull out of their respective Test-match tours and a triangular one-day series in England later in the year.
ECB chief executive Tim Lamb said the board remained concerned about the "deteriorating state of civil order in Zimbabwe".
"We are sorry it has come to this ... there have been no winners in this," said Lamb.
The decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board brought to an end days of hard-nosed negotiations which had seen the the World Cup mired in controversy and marked by ever increasing tensions.
The ECB cited continuing security concerns as its reasons for not travelling to Zimbabwe.
But the announcement of the pull-out is not the last chapter in the protracted saga, with England fighting tooth and nail to still gain something from the fixture.
Speed said the World Cup Event Technical Committee (ETC) would be sitting for a second time to hear "new evidence" from the ECB as to why England were justified in their decision to withdraw from the match.
The ECB late last week failed to convince the technical committee or appeal judge Judge Albie Sachs to move the game to South Africa.
Speed said no date had been set for the ETC hearing which would again encompass an appeal process.
"If the ECB can prove that their safety concerns are justified then the (Harare) match can be rescheduled or the points may be split," said Speed.
He said the points would be shared in the event that World Cup organisers encountered logistical difficulties in rescheduling the match.
If the ECB failed to convince the technical committee, then all four points would be awarded to Zimbabwe, he added.
Speed said the new evidence consisted of "statements made by security experts and police in meetings with the England players".
Lamb said he was disappointed that the ICC had not appreciated how deeply the death threats had affected the England players.
He added that the ECB would now comply fully with the procedures laid down by the ICC to resolve the issue.