WATCH: Ranchi crowd goes wild with 'Dhoni' chants as legendary captain appears on screen

Even though New Zealand won the first T20I against Team India by 21 runs on January 27, one moment from the match that yet delighted the Ranchi fans was the sight of legendary captain MS Dhoni. As seen in the video below, the Ranchi crowd went wild when the former Team India skipper appeared on screen as they loudly began chanting 'Dhoni, Dhoni' from the stands. The 41-year-old acknowledged the reception he received by waving at the crowd.

MSD + Ranchi = 🤩

When the Ranchi crowd welcomed the legendary @msdhoni in style 😃👌#TeamIndia | #INDvNZ | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/40FoEDudSv

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 27, 2023

India vs New Zealand: Blackcaps land first blow in 3-match series

Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell conjured up fluent and fiery half-centuries before the spinners choked the hosts as New Zealand outplayed India by 21 runs in the opening T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series on Friday. Asked to take first strike, opener Conway continued his purple patch with a 35-ball 52, while Mitchell smashed a 30-ball unbeaten 59, which included a last-over thrashing of Arshdeep Singh for 27 runs, to power the Black Caps to a challenging 176 for the loss of six wickets.

With the ball in hand, the Kiwi bowlers never let Team India settle. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner led from the front as he ended with outstanding figures of 2/11 and picked up the wickets of the dangerous Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Deepak Hooda. Meanwhile, Michael Bracewell and Lockie Ferguson also picked up two wickets each to restrict Team India to just 155 runs for the loss of nine wickets from their 20 overs.

When it came to Team India's batting, only Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar contributed with meaningful scores. Suryakumar smacked 47 runs off 34 deliveries before chipping a ball off Ish Sodhi to Finn Allen at long-on. Sundar seemed most comfortable with the bat as he smacked an outstanding fifty off just 28 deliveries but his knock came too late as New Zealand were already on the verge of victory by this stage.

(Inputs from PTI)