In a rain-affected T20I series opener in Brisbane on Thursday, Australia defeated Pakistan by 29 runs thanks to the comeback of veteran batsman Glenn Maxwell and outstanding bowling from Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis.
Due to bad weather, which included lightning and a lot of rain, the game was cut short to seven overs each side.
Maxwell’s brilliant 43 from 19 deliveries was the cornerstone of Australia’s impressive 93-4 score. Under duress, Pakistan’s batting response stumbled and only managed 64-9.
Despite losing a number of important players who were training for the forthcoming Test series against India, the Australian bowling attack—led by Ellis and Bartlett, who were recovering from injuries—proved to be quite successful.
“We almost had our bags packed because we thought we wouldn’t get a game in,” Maxwell stated. “We certainly had a lot of fun out there.”
The series ends in Hobart on Monday after continuing on Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Mohammad Rizwan, the captain of Pakistan, stated, “It’s hard to keep things normal in this type of match because it went very fast.”
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Due to thunderstorms, the game started more than two hours late. The rules were changed to allow bowlers to play no more than two overs apiece. Pakistan struggled in this format even though they had won an ODI series, their first in Australia in 22 years.
Australia’s aggressive batting strategy saw openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short score 16 runs in the first over after Rizwan decided to field. Then, with four boundaries in his first six balls, including a huge six off Haris Rauf, Maxwell dominated.
Australia’s innings ended strongly because to Marcus Stoinis’ unbeaten 21 from seven deliveries.
Sahibzada Farhan’s successive boundaries gave Pakistan a promising start to their chase, but their batting soon fell apart.
They were at 16-4 after early dismissals of important batsmen, including as Babar Azam for three and Rizwan for a duck. Even though Abbas scored an undefeated 20 from 10 balls, Pakistan was far from meeting the goal.
