Australia clinches victory against Pakistan in first T20 match

BRISBANE: In the opening match of the rain-affected T20I series, a dominant Australia emerged victorious by 29 runs after Pakistan’s batting was wrecked by bowlers in the rain-affected first T20I of the three-match series at The Gabba on Thursday.

The Men in Green managed to score only 64/9 in seven overs in pursuit of a tough target of 94.

The visitors got off to a good start as they scored 12 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first over.

Pakistan then suffered a disastrous middle-order collapse, including the dismissal of key batsmen Babar Azam (3) and captain Mohammad Rizwan (0), and were reduced to 20/5 in three overs.

Xavier Bartlett, who took two wickets in his first over, kept Pakistan under pressure by dismissing Salman Ali Agha (4). The right-arm pacer recorded impressive bowling figures of 13/3 in his two overs quota.

Coming in to bat at No. 8 with the visitors at 24/6 in 3.2 overs, Abbas Afridi put up a remarkable fightback against a pace-packed Australian bowling attack with an unbeaten 20-run cameo.

However, his efforts were not enough to drive it over the line as Pakistan suffered a 29-run defeat in the first match of the series.

Nathan Ellis led the bowling charge for Australia with astonishing figures of 3/9 in two overs, while Adam Zampa took two wickets.

Earlier, Glenn Maxwell’s blazing knock took Australia to a mammoth total of 93 in the first T20I.

In a match that was reduced to seven overs per side, Pakistan captain Rizwan won the toss and put Australia in to bat.

Hosts openers Jack Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short scored 16 runs in the first over, bowled by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Naseem Shah got Fraser-McGurk out for nine off five balls with the first ball of his spell to secure Pakistan’s first win.

But despite Short’s departure in the third over, Maxwell, who had been promoted to bat at No. 3, dominated the proceedings.

The hard-hitting batsman eventually fell victim to Mohammad Abbas in the closing over, who also dismissed Tim David (9) as Australia collapsed to 73/4 in six overs.

Maxwell was the top scorer for Australia with 43 runs off 19 balls, his innings laced with five fours and three sixes.

Marcus Stoinis then caught Naseem for 20 in the final over to take Australia’s total to 93/4 in the allotted overs.

The right-handed batsman remained unbeaten on 21 off seven balls, which included two fours and a six.

For Pakistan, Abbas took two wickets while Shaheen and Naseem took two wickets each.

A few days ago, the Men in Green celebrated a significant victory by defeating the Kangaroos in the third and final ODI to clinch the three-match series 2-1.

With the win, the Green Shirts marked their first ODI series win on Australian soil in 22 years, the last victory in a 50-over series being in 2002.

Furthermore, it is worth noting that Pakistan is playing its first match after its disappointing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, which saw them crash out of the tournament’s group stage for the first time due to crushing defeats against the United States and arch-rivals India.

Australia, on the other hand, is fresh from a 3-0 win over Scotland and a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals England.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (c/wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haseebullah Khan, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah

Australia: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Josh Inglis (c/wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson