Glenn Maxwell produced a lightning show of his own as Australia powered to a comprehensive victory in the first T20I against Pakistan in Brisbane.
In a match shortened to seven-overs-a-side after frequent thunder and lightning around the Gabba, Maxwell was elevated to No.3 and hit a dashing 43 from 19 balls, which included three sixes and five fours.
His assault on the visitors’ attack saw Australia post 4-93, which Pakistan never threatened to chase, falling 29 runs short.
With no option but to go hard in reply, Pakistan’s pursuit was in disarray in a hurry, losing five wickets in the first 15 balls of their innings.
The star of the evening was Maxwell, who in typical fashion was a thrill-a-minute from his first delivery.
Arriving at the crease in the second over, the mercurial allrounder met Naseem Shah’s 136kph delivery with an audacious reverse scoop, which sailed safely over the short third man and away to the boundary.
And he continued using the pace of Pakistan’s bowlers to his advantage, hitting 19 runs to the third man area alone.
Haris Rauf, who had Maxwell’s number during the ODI series by dismissing his former Melbourne Stars teammate three times in eight deliveries, copped the brunt of the Australian’s power-hitting in the fifth over.
After getting lucky with a thick edge over the wicketkeeper with the second ball of the over, Maxwell picked the follow-up slower ball with a huge hit over the leg-side.
Two balls later, Maxwell was ready for the pace-on delivery and smoked Rauf off a good length straight over long off, with the allrounder’s bat making a satisfying crack on connection.
The biggest hit of the night came courtesy of Tim David, who deposited Abbas Afridi well over the fence on the eastern side of the ground in the penultimate over, narrowly missing the Gabba’s pool deck.
With a sizable total already on the board, Mohammad Irfan Khan was left to rue dropping a tough chance off Marcus Stoinis at deep midwicket with four balls remaining.
Stoinis, on seven at the time, took a further 14 runs after the reprieve, including a bludgeoned straight six that rocketed into the glass of the press box.
One of Pakistan’s four inclusions tonight, Sahibzada Farhan begun the chase with fours off the first two balls.
But Spencer Johnson hurried the new opener, with Farhan miscuing a pull shot to midwicket.
Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis bowled overs two and three, and both took two wickets each as the tourists’ plight went from bad to disastrous in a matter of deliveries.
Rizwan (duck), Usman Khan (four) and Salman Ali Agha (four) all skied attempted slogs, with the efforts barely clearing the inner circle.
Local hero Bartlett (3-13) was particularly effective on his home deck, taking 2-4 in a strangling opening over by hitting a hard length and cleverly using his slower ball.
Allrounder Abbas was the only Pakistan batter to consistently find the middle, but by the time he had found his groove, the required run rate was above 36 runs per over.
Australia XI: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (c, wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Pakistan XI: Muhammad Rizwan (c/wk), Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan, Usman Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haseebullah Khan, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Australia v Pakistan T20Is 2024
November 14: Gabba, 7.00pm AEDT
November 16: SCG: 7.00pm AEDT
November 18: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 7.00pm AEDT
All matches live and exclusive on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports
Australia T20 squad: Josh Inglis (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Philippe, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Pakistan T20 squad: Muhammad Rizwan (c), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.
