Maxwell leads Australia to beat Pakistan in shortened first T20

BRISBANE: After rain shortened the first T20 between Pakistan and Australia on Thursday, Glenn Maxwell capitalised by leading Australia to a score of 93, ultimately beating the men in green by 29 runs.

Each seven over innings featured a two over power-play. Two bowlers bowled two overs, and three bowlers bowled one each. Pakistan won the toss and chose to field first.

AUSTRALIA’S INNINGS

Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk were the openers for the Aussies. With only seven overs of play, the two got to work quickly, making 16 runs in the first over, as Fraser-McGurk hit two fours and one six immediately. However, he may have gotten a little overconfident, as he attempted to slam the ball for another boundary on the very first ball of the second over, but only managed to find the hands of Babar Azam on a delivery by Naseem Shah.

Glenn Maxwell replaced him on the field, and hit a four on the first ball he faced. He hit a three more in a row on the final three balls of the second over, piling the pressure on Pakistan. Short wasn’t able to produce the same success, as he was dismissed in the third over on a delivery from Haris Rauf. Babar Azam made the catch at deep backward square as Short looked to flick the ball for six.

The fourth over saw Maxwell hit his fifth boundary of the match as he reverse swatted a delivery from Shaheen Afridi for six. He hit three more in the fifth over, beginning with a four down to deep third before smashing a six on the next ball over deep mid-wicket. Maxwell then launched another six over long-off to add to the destructive over.

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Maxwell fell just short of making a half century, as he was dismissed in the sixth over on a delivery from Abbas Afridi. It was a shorter ball that Maxwell hooked to deep square leg where Usman Khan took the catch. It was a incredible innings from the Australian batsman, as he made 43 runs off 19 deliveries.

Tim David, who only managed to make nine runs off eight deliveries, was dismissed soon after. After hitting his first and only boundary of the match, David hit a delivery from Abbas to Sahibzada Farhan at long on, who took the catch despite a collision with the man at deep mid-wicket. Marcus Stoinis put the finishing touches on Australia’s innings, making 21 runs off the seven deliveries he faced, hitting two fours and one six in the last over.

Australia made 93 runs in 7 overs, losing four wickets in the process.

PAKISTAN’S INNINGS

Sahibzada Farhan opened Pakistan’s innings in dominant fashion, hitting two fours on the first two balls he faced. Unfortunately, he was dismissed on the third ball of the first over, as the delivery from Spencer Johnson was pulled to Xavier Bartlett at mid-wicket who took the catch.

Things got worse for Pakistan on the first ball of the second over, as Muhammad Rizwan was dismissed on a delivery from Bartlett, which he sliced up to Fraser-McGurk at backward point. The Pakistan skipper was sent off for a duck on the second ball he faced. Usman Khan was dismissed soon after in the same over. After hitting a four over mid-off, the next delivery from Bartlett found the thick edge of Usman’s bat, which sent the ball to Short at deep third who took the catch.

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Babar Azam was sent off next on the first ball of the third over as he smashed the ball to deep mid-wicket, but it fell just short of the boundary and Fraser-McGurk took the catch. Pakistan weren’t able to stop the bleeding, as Irfan Khan fell for a duck right after on the second ball he faced. Fraser-McGurk once again took the catch after Irfan scooped the ball to deep mid-wicket.

Pakistan continued to crumble in the fourth over, with Salman Agha falling on a delivery from Bartlett which found the top edge of Agha’s bat before Josh Inglis ran to take the catch.

Abbas Afridi and Haseebullah Khan did their best to put some runs on the board for Pakistan. Abbas managed to make the highest score out of Pakistan’s batting line-up, scoring 20 runs off 10 deliveries, hitting two four and one six in the process. Haseebullah made the next highest score with 12 runs, before he was dismissed on the second ball of the sixth over. He hit a slower and shorter delivery from Nathan Ellis to deep mid-wicket where Short made the catch.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was bowled by Adam Zampa on the penultimate delivery of the match, after the Pakistani fast bowler made 11 runs off six deliveries. Naseem Shah came in and attempted to launch the ball for six on the last delivery of the match. However, the ball only made contact with the stumps.

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Australia took a 1-0 lead in the three match T20 series. Pakistan lost by 29, after making 64 runs in seven overs, losing nine wickets in the process. Glenn Maxwell was the lead run scorer, making 43 much needed runs for Australia. Bartlett and Ellis were the two most dominant bowlers, taking three wickets each as they dismantled Pakistan.