1 week Ago By A Sports
BRISBANE: Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis powered Australia to set a target of 94 runs in the rain-effected first T20I against Pakistan at The Gabba here on Thursday. Due to the rain and thunderstorms, the match has been reduced to seven overs. The powerplay will consist of two overs.
Two bowlers can bowl two overs and three can bowl one each. Australia, after being invited to bat first by the Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, struck 16 runs in the first over, however, Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) fell prey to Naseem Shah on the first ball of the next over. Glenn Maxwell joined Matthew Short and smashed four boundaries to Naseem, taking Australia’s total to 33-1 in two overs.
Haris Rauf forced Pakistan’s comeback after two expensive overs as he gave away only three runs and removed Matthew Short (7). However his next over was expensive as Maxwell, who fell thrice to Haris during the ODI series, struck him for two sixes and one four. Maxwell’s blistering 43-run knock came to an end in the next over when he was caught by Usman Khan at deep square leg off Abbas Afridi.
The all-rounder conceded 19 balls and hit eight boundaries, including three sixes, during his entertaining knock. Abbas dismissed Tim David (9) in the same over courtesy of Irfan Khan’s catch at deep midwicket. Notably, Pakistan defeated Australia in the third ODI by eight wickets in Perth to win their first series Down Under since 2002 .
The visitors lost the first match of the three-match series by two wickets, however, they staged an impressive comeback to win the series 2-1. Australia: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Josh Inglis (c)(wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson 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 READ: Shahid Afridi on India’s refusal to tour Pakistan for Champions Trophy.
