MS Dhoni: The last ball was brilliant
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He may be the greatest finisher of our times, but MS Dhoni was left flummoxed after failing to win it for India in the final over of the first T20 yesterday against Zimbabwe. Dhoni called Neville Madziva's final ball “brilliant” after the skipper could make only one run when four were needed.
Speaking after the match, Dhoni praised the last ball that ensured India ended on the losing side with a two-run defeat. Dhoni was at the crease facing the last ball after India had ensured the last over, when only eight runs were needed, was stretched to the end. Madziva bowled one outside the off-stump to give away just one run eventually.
Dhoni said, "Ultimately, the contest is between the bat and ball. I felt the last ball was brilliant”.
"We did not play to potential. A lot of wickets were not full-fledged shots, more like catching practice. You may be doing well in the domestic circuit but there is more pressure when you go from India A to India. It's good learning curve for them. There were a lots of errors committed by the batsmen. We were not playing with our first XI in the bowling department. Our lengths were not right," Dhoni added talking about errors by both the batsmen and the bowlers.
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer was evidently elated with the win after his side had been whitewashed in the ODI series, and with no one giving them a chance even in the T20s.
"Excellent to comeback from the losses in ODI series. A lot of pressure off me. We are not going to stop here," he said.
Elton Chigumbura has always been a regarded as a talented batsman, and has sizzled often only to soon fail. But yesterday, he played a sensational knock of unbeaten 54 off 26 balls making a match of the encounter. Cremer was full of praise for him saying, "We know Elton can always be dangerous. He is one innings away from doing something special again. India are a tough side, today it could have gone either way and luckily it went our way."
Chigumbura was more subdued in his moment calling it a team effort.
"Everyone contributed today. This one will give us the confidence to do the same thing again, and improve," he said after dedicating the Man of the Match award to his wife on her birthday.
