1st T20I: No last-ball heroics from Dhoni as Zimbabwe stun young India

HarareTeam India got their T20 campaign to the worst possible start as they lost their first match to Zimbabwe by 2 runs here on Saturday as even their experienced captain MS Dhoni couldnt script his usual lastball heroicsThe young Indian side couldnt handle the pressure and succumbed to the resolute Zimbabwe sideInterestingly India have now lost the last two T20Internationals they have played against Zimbabwe It will beafter a long time that India will be playing to save a seriesagainst ZimbabweZimbabwean players celebrate after winning the T20 International match against India at Harare Sports Club on Saturday PicAPPTIChasing 171 to win India started off badly as they lost the wicket of inform opener KL Rahul off the very first delivery Pandey topscored for India with 48 off 35 balls His innings included one boundary and three sixesIndia were restricted to 168 forsix with seamer Neville Madziva bowling a brilliant last over togive the hosts a 10 lead in the threematch seriesAfter a 30 cakewalk in the preceding ODI series Indiawere brought down to earth by this embarrassing defeat inwhich captain Mahendra Singh Dhonis reputation as a finisheragain took a beatingNeeding only 8 off the final over Dhoni who couldntconnect a single big shot during his sedate 19 off 17 ballsSurprisingly Dhoni took single to expose Himachal PradeshsRishi Dhawan 1 who simply lacked quality or ability to hitthe ball out of the parkMadziva bowled fuller and a few length deliveries mixingit up nicely as the few hundreds of Zimbabwean supporters wereecstatic in joyIPL regulars like Pandey 48 and Axar Patel 18did their bit to set it up but when it mattered the most thelittle known Zimbabwean boys none of whom have franchisecontract in private leagues did it for their countryWith 79 required off 42 balls Pandey decided to take onrival captain Graeme Cremer hitting him for two consecutivesixes as 16 runs came off the 14th over in company of skipperDhoni The presence of Dhoni also ensured that singles wereconverted into doublesThe skipper got his first boundary in the next over witha nice little bisected between point and gully that went for aboundary The bowler was Taurai Muzarabani The 15th overyielded 10 runsWith Pandey getting a boundary off Neville Madzivas nextover that produced 12 runs Indias victory bid was back ontrack with 38 runs coming off three oversJust when it looked that Pandey will take India home hemistimed a lofted shot off Muzarabanis bowling to get out for48 off 35 balls having hit a four and three sixesThis brought down the equation to 28 off 16 ballsHowever Axar Patel hit one of the biggest sixes of the matchover longon to bring the equation down to 21 from 12 ballsA four and six off penultimate over saw Axar bring downthe equation to 8 from the last over which the Indians failedto getEarlier former skipper Elton Chigumburas late order onslaught guided Zimbabwe to 1706 in the first T20 International against India at the Harare Sports Club here on SaturdayChigumbura blasted seven massive sixes and a four during his unbeaten 26ball 55 which saw India leaking 59 runs in the last five overs The righthanders eighthwicket stand with Neville Madziva yielded 40 runs as the Indians were searching for coverEarlier the hosts got off to a brisk start after being sent into bat with openers Hamliton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha putting on 33 runs as the former skipper blasted a 15ball 25 including two consecutive sixes off medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat to lay the platformBut the onslaught was soon controlled by young medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah who packed back Masakadza with a slower offcutter Wicketkeeperbatsman Richmond Mutumbami who came in next retired after hurting himself while Chibhabha soon joined him at the dug out after scoring a 19ball 20Next in Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller added 47 runs for the fourth wicket to take the hosts near the 100run mark before Waller was castled by legspinner Yuzvendra Chahals googly for a 21ball 30 which included four hits to the fenceWith that wicket Zimbabwe once again lost the track as Raza 20 ran himself out while leftarm spinner Axar Patel accounted for Tinotenda Mutombodzi 3 Skipper Graeme Cremer 4 also perished cheaply but was Chigumburas late order heroics saved the hosts from another humiliationFaced with the sudden onslaught the Indian bowlers looked helpless as medium pacers Jaydev Unadkat and Rishi Dhawan leaked 43 and 42 runs respectively Bumrah was the most successful bowler with two wickets while Dhawan Patel and Chahal chipped in with one wicket apieceIndia will play second match at the same venue onMonday