Maxwell, pacers give Australia 1-0 lead

Glenn Maxwell's blitz and a combined effort from Australia's pace trio gave the home side a 1-0 lead in the T20I series at the Gabba. In a game reduced to seven overs per side after a prolonged period of frustration due to rain and lightning, Australia posted an imposing total of 93/4. That total proved to be too much for a Pakistan side that was just not in the chase at any point.

On expected lines, Jake Fraser-McGurk went after the bowling from ball one after Pakistan asked Australia to bat first. He fetched successive boundaries off Shaheen Afridi in the first over and Matthew Short finished that over with a six. Pakistan thought they found some respite when Fraser-McGurk found the fielder at cover at the start of the second over but Glenn Maxwell walked in with intent, used the reverse scoop to great effect and hit Naseem Shah for four boundaries as Australia raced to 33 in just two overs. Maxwell's nemesis over the last few days, Haris Rauf, calmed proceedings with a terrific over that saw him concede just three runs while also picking the wicket of Short.

However, Maxwell kept going at the other end as he astonishingly reverse swept Shaheen for a six over third man and then finally managed to get one over Rauf by smashing him for two sixes in an over. Abbas Afridi managed to put an end to Maxwell's heroics while also deceiving Tim David in the same over with a slower delivery. Pakistan's hopes of finishing the innings on a high however, were ruined by Marcus Stoinis. In the final over that was bowled by Naseem, Stoinis fetched a boundary down the ground before rounding off the innings with another six and a four to help Australia breach 90.

Even though Sahibzada Farhan kicked off the chase with back-to-back boundaries off Spencer Johnson, the pacer had the last laugh as he got rid of the opener just two balls later. Xavier Bartlett then struck first ball when Mohammad Rizwan managed to get only a leading edge to get caught at backward point. Usman Khan had a wild swing a couple of times before finally connecting one but his joy was short-lived as Bartlett accounted for his wicket as well.

16/3 soon became 16/5 as the visitors were next stunned by Nathan Ellis. Bowling his trademark slower delivery first up, Ellis dismissed Babar Azam before Irfan Khan miscued one to fall for a two-ball duck. The chase was done and dusted at that point as Abbas Afridi just managed to reduce the margin of defeat with a couple of lusty blows.

Brief scores: Australia 93/4 in 7 overs (Glenn Maxwell 43, Marcus Stoinis 21*; Abbas Afridi 2/9) beat Pakistan 64/9 in 7 overs (Abbas Afridi 20; Nathan Ellis 3/9, Xavier Bartlett 3/13) by 29 runs