Daily Times

Glenn Maxwell’s blistering knock, combined with a solid bowling performance, guided Australia to a convincing 29-run victory over Pakistan in the rain-affected first T20I at The Gabba on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 94 runs, Pakistan could only managed to score 64 runs.

The visitors got off to a solid start, scoring 12 runs for the loss of one wicket in the opening over. However, a dramatic middle-order collapse followed, which saw the dismissal of key players Babar Azam (3) and Mohammad Rizwan (0). Pakistan found themselves struggling at 20/5 after just three overs.

Xavier Bartlett played a crucial role in Pakistan’s downfall, picking up two wickets in his opening over and then removing Salman Ali Agha (4).

Bartlett finished with impressive figures of 13/3 from his two overs, keeping Pakistan under constant pressure throughout the chase.

Gleen Maxwell was declared Man of the match for his brilliant innings,

Batting first, Glenn Maxwell (43) and Marcus Stoinis (21) showcased brilliant power hitting to propel Australia to post 94-run target for Men in Green in first T20I.

Maxwell, who joined Matthew Short at the crease, wasted no time, smashing four boundaries off Naseem Shah to take Australia to 33-1 after the first two overs.

However, Pakistan fought back through Haris Rauf, who bowled a tight over, conceding just three runs and removing Short (7), bringing Pakistan back into the contest.

Maxwell, though, continued his onslaught, capitalizing on Rauf’s next over by hitting two sixes and a four, even though he had been dismissed three times by Haris in the ODI series.

His blistering knock came to an end when he was caught by Usman Khan at deep square leg off Abbas Afridi’s delivery. Maxwell’s innings of 43 came from just 19 balls, including eight boundaries, three of which were sixes.

In the same over, Abbas struck again, dismissing Tim David (9), who was caught by Irfan Khan at deep midwicket. Stoinis, however, took charge in the final over, smashing Naseem for 20 runs, including two fours and a six, to help lift Australia’s total to 93-4.

Stoinis remained unbeaten on 21 from 7 balls, while for Pakistan, Abbas Afridi claimed two wickets, and Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf each took one.