Half-centuries by Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine helped Zimbabwe clinch a shock six-wicket victory over India in the opening game of the Tri-Nations series in Bulawayo.
Rohit Sharma hit a measured 114 to form the backbone of India's total of 285 for five but Taylormade 81 and Ervine 67 not out as the hosts chased down their target with 10 balls to spare.
Zimbabwe's pursuit stuttered as they lost three quick wickets in the middle overs but debutant Ervine shared crucial partnerships with Charles Coventry (32), Greg Lamb (27) and captain Elton Chigumbura (24no) to take his side home.
Earlier, Sharma's brilliant century and Ravindra Jadeja's clean-hitting at the death helped the visitors put a challenging total on the board.
India captain Suresh Raina won the toss and decided to bat first, allowing opening duo Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik to put on a brisk 56 for the first wicket.
Chigumbura failed to lead by example, gifting India 36 runs in his only two overs.
The skipper replaced himself to bring Ray Price into the attack and the move immediately paid dividends as Vijay (11) ran himself out in the ninth over, thanks to a smart back-hand throw by wicketkeeper Taylor.
Virat Kohli did not trouble the scorers and went for a duck in the next over.
Karthik (22) went for a reverse sweep towards the short third man and ran for a risky single, but Chigumbura fired in an excellent direct hit leaving Kohli well short of his ground.
Former captain Prosper Utesya made further inroads into the Indian batting line-up when he dismissed Karthik in the 13th over.
The spate of wickets put the brakes on the visitors' scoring but they managed to put 85 on the board by the end of 20th over, with Sharma and Raina in the middle.
Zimbabwe's bowlers kept a tight leash on the Indian batsmen as the visitors managed to hit just one boundary between the 10th and the 20th over.
That mounting pressure broke Raina's concentration as he nicked a Chris Mpofu outswinger to Taylor in the 30th over with 128 runs on the board.
Sharma steadied the ship alongside Jadeja (61no) and completed his half-century in the 37th over with a four off Graeme Cremer.
Sharma then hit Mpofu for two fours and a towering six in the 44th over and gave the same treatment to Price in the 47th over to reach his century.
The Deccan Chargers batsman fell to Mpofu in the next when he tried an ambitious shot to clear the midwicket but top-edged it to Taylor behind the stumps.
In reply, Zimbabwe openers Hamilton Masakadza and Taylor took advantage of an inexperienced Indian attack and soon began finding - and clearing - the boundary after starting on a cautious note.
Taylor was the more aggressive, hitting Vinay Kumar for two fours and a six in the ninth over.
Masakadza (46) followed suit and blasted a boundary off Jadeja's bowling in the 12th over, repeating the dose in the next off Amit Mishra.
But the spinner had the last laugh when he cleaned bowled the right-handed batsman with the last delivery of the over.
Lamb joined Taylor in the middle and the duo took their side to the 100-run mark in the 17th over.
They continued to deal with ones and twos with occasional boundaries in the next 12 overs.
Lamb fell to Jadeja in the 30th over after a 64-run partnership for the second wicket.
Taylor eventually lost his wicket to Kumar after a well-paced innings of 81
That left Irvine and Coventry with a daunting task of scoring more than seven runs an over.
The pair responded well to the challenge, bringing up 200 in the 40th over and Ervine celebrated with a towering six off Yusuf Pathan in the next.
Coventry emulated his partner in the 42nd over to bring the asking rate down but fell to Kumar in the next.
Ervine held his nerves, though, to take his side home in partnership with Chigumbura.
Teams
India: Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadega, Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan. Murli Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav
Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Greg Lamb, Craig Ervine, Charles Coventry, Elton Chigumbura, Andy Blignaut, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Chrisopher Mpofu
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