Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 170/6 in 20/20 overs (Chigumbura 54*(26), Waller 30(21), Bumrah 2/24) beat India 168/6 in 20/20 overs (Manish Pandey 48(35), Mandeep Singh 31(27), Chamu Chibhabha 2/13) by 2 runs

The formats had changed and the Zimbabwe side also looked changed. 33 runs came in the first three overs as Hamilton Masakadza smashed Unadkat and Dhawan into the crowd three times. But, Jasprit Bumrah, the highest wicket-taker in the ODI series, came to bowl in the 5th over and struck instantly to remove the dangerous-looking Masakadza. Richmond Mutumbami came in next, but he returned to the dressing room a few balls later, retired hurt, after a ball from Unadkat hit him in the hip. It became worse for Zimbabwe in the next over as Rishi Dhawan removed Chamu Chibhabha.

(Also read - Twitter reacts as India get stunned by Zimbabwe in the first T20)

Elton Chigumbura – the man

India stutter at the start

Coming into the match, India would have hoped for a much better performance from Zimbabwe after three one-sided outings. But, they got more than they wanted and were made to chase a daunting total. A good start was necessary, but it went the other way. KL Rahul, who scored a hundred in his first ODI, departed for a golden duck in his T20 debut. Donald Tiripano’s ball found the inside edge of Rahul’s bat before crashing into the stumps. Mandeep Singh and Ambati Rayudu huffed and puffed initially to score runs with the former surviving a scare in the 4th over after Muzarabani dropped him at long-on. With the required run rate creeping above 9, Rayudu and Mandeep went for glory and perished to leave India 53/3 in 7.4 overs.

Needing a good partnership to get out of trouble, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav joined hands and formed a 37-run stand to keep India near the required run rate. Pandey and Jadhav took the attack to the Zimbabwe bowlers and smashed Cremer and Raza for sixes in consecutive overs. But Muzarabani ended the dangerous-looking partnership in the 13th over by removing Jadhav for 19 off 13 balls. Although his partner fell, Pandey was not finished. He took a liking to Cremer and sent him over the ropes for back-to-back sixes in the 14th over. Dhoni also joined in on the fun and scored a four off Muzarabani’s next over to keep India in the hunt. The men in blue looked set for a victory with them needing just 28 from 17 balls. But, Muzarabani removed the dangerous Manish Pandey in the 18th over after he scored 48 off 35 balls.

MS Dhoni was still at the crease and with him India’s hopes. Axar Patel then smashed two sixes and a four to leave India needing just 8 off the last over. However, the Gujarat lad went for another maximum in the second ball of the last over and smashed it straight to long-off. Madziva, on the other hand, kept the ball wide to leave Dhoni and Dhawan frustrated. Dhoni took a single off the third ball and gave Dhawan the strike, but the all-rounder struggled to find a single in the next ball with Madziva keeping the ball away from him. The scoreboard pressure was piling up, 6 runs were needed off two balls, and Dhawan failed to find the boundary again. But, the umpire gave him a reprieve by signalling a wide. Then, Dhawan took a single to give Dhoni the strike with India needing four runs off the last ball. Madziva bowled it perfectly, and Dhoni just managed one run with his shot as India suffered a shock defeat to the hosts after clean-sweeping the ODI series.