Panic got the better of the Bangladesh team as they lost the first Twenty20 international against Zimbabwe by six runs at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday. Chasing 169 runs, the tourists were already more than half way to shore before the disaster took place as the side went down by 6 runs in the last over. The top order has not clicked for the Tigers but yesterday was the exception. After the early dismissal of opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, debutant Shamsur Rahman and all-rounder Shakib al Hasan who came in at number three steered the side to the shores of victory, but eventually the ship sank when in sight of the harbour. Bangladesh who are more used to occasionally winning from losing positions found themselves awkwardly stealing defeat from the jaws of victory on a tour that has been rocky to say the least. The middle order collapse was unexpected as Bangladesh was strolling towards victory. The brain freeze from the middle order only heaped more pressure on the outgoing captain as he tried to see of the tour on a winning note. “The 160 runs were chaseable and you will see that we had a steady start and were near there. But it was the panic that got us into trouble and we failed to get out of it,” said Bangladesh head coach Shane Jurgensen to the media yesterday. “We were in a very strong position and we should have won the match. But still all is not over. We still have a match left and hope we will bounce back to square the series,” he added. Zimbabwe maintained their winning streak over their opponents and the win was the third consecutive one for the side, following two successive victories in the ODI series. “We are happy to win the game. The game was intense and happy that we won fighting. It was Utseya’s two wickets in an over that changed the face of the game. We have another game to go and hopefully we will be able to carry the good work in it,” said Hamilton Masakadza, the man of the match for his 59 off 48. With one match to go Bangladesh will be desperate to avoid defeat which will leave them with the unenviable record of losing both the T20 and ODI series with only a drawn test series to show for their efforts.