1st T20I: Australia beat Pakistan in rain-hit 7-over contest
What's the story
Australia have won the first T20I against Pakistan by 29 runs in what was a 7-over contest at The Gabba, Brisbane. Once the rain stopped, the umpires announced a 7-over match and Australia coming out all guns blazing, Riding on Glenn Maxwell's 43, the hosts posted 93/4. In response, Pakistan could only manage 64 runs for 9 wickets in 7 overs.
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Credit to Maxwell, says Rizwan
Pakistan white-ball captain, Mohammad Rizwan, said the match happened too fast as he also credited Maxwell. "Can't say anything in this kind of match. Thing was going quite fast. We tried our best with bat. If you look at the whole match, credit to Maxwell. Not just this match, the last couple of years as well. Will try our best at SCG," Rizwan said.
Maxwell
Maxwell hits 19-ball 43 to floor the visitors
Maxwell arrived when the Aussies were 16/1 in 1.1 overs. He looked in his element, scoring 43 runs from 19 balls. He hit five fours and three sixes (SR: 226.32). Maxwell was dismissed by Abbas Afridi in the 6th over. He has now raced to 2,643 runs from 114 matches at 30.03 (SR: 155.56). As per ESPNcricinfo, versus Pakistan, he owns 279 runs.
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Stoinis shines with a 7-ball 21*
Marcus Stoinis slammed 21* runs from just 7 balls. He struck at 300, hitting two fours and a six. Stoinis owns 1,170 runs for the Aussies in 20-over cricket at 30.78 (SR: 146-plus).
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What about the Pakistan bowlers?
In his two overs, left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi, conceded 25 runs. Naseem Shah proved costly, conceding 37 from two overs. He picked one scalp. Haris Rauf claimed 1/21 from his two overs. Abbas managed 2/9 from his solitary over.
PAK
Pakistan falter with the bat
Apart from Abbas' 10-ball 20*, the Pakistan side faltered. Notably, the first six batters didn't get past 10 runs. Rizwan posted a duck whereas Babar Azam managed three runs. Xavier Bartlett was solid for Australia, claiming 3/13 from his 2 overs. Meanwhile, Nathan Ellis claimed 3/9. Adam Zampa bowled one over, clocking 2/9.