Australia ambush Pakistan in rain-affected Brisbane T20

Glenn Maxwell's quickfire 43 sets up 29-run win in seven-over contest

Australia's Nathan Ellis, right, is congratulated by Josh Inglis after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan Khan during the first T20 in Brisbane. AP

Australia prevailed in the rain-affected opening T20 against Pakistan in Brisbane on Thursday, securing a 29-run win in a seven over contest.

Aussie all-rounder Glenn Maxwell smashed 43 from just 19 balls as the hosts raced to 93-4.

Pakistan's star pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf all went for more than 10 runs an over as Australia hit a total of 15 boundaries to and beyond the fence.

In reply, Pakistan's batting crumbled under pressure straightaway as they were reduced to 16-5 in the third over as the batsmen started to slog from the first ball they faced.

At one point, Pakistan looked like getting bowled out inside seven overs but all-rounder Abbas Afridi hit a few shots to extend the match.

Fast bowlers Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis picked up three wickets each with spinner Adam Zampa picking up two wickets in the last over as Pakistan finished on 64-9.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and elected to bowl in a truncated first of a three-match T20I series.

Maxwell followed scores of 0, 16, 0 in the preceding ODI series won by Pakistan 2-1 by smacking three sixes and five boundaries. He played some extravagant lap shots to third man against the pace of Rauf (1-21) and Naseem (1-37).

Maxwell fell in the penultimate over when he hooked Abbas (2-9) to backward square leg but Marcus Stoinis provided a final flourish with an unbeaten 21 off seven balls. Stoinis smashed 20 runs in Naseem’s last over with two fours and six.

The match was reduced to a contest with seven overs per side after a delayed start due to heavy rain and lightning.

“Certainly had a lot of fun out there,” Maxwell said. “We thought we had enough on the board… the bowlers did a great job. There were a few of us who had packed our bags expecting the game to be called off, so it was a mad rush to get ready.”

In the chase, nothing went right for Pakistan. Sahibzada Farhan hit left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson for two successive boundaries off the first two balls he faced before mistiming a pull shot off the fourth ball and holing out at midwicket.

Captain Rizwan fell to the first ball when he top-edged Bartlett to point. Usman Khan was caught at third man in the same over.

Ellis struck twice in his first over when Babar Azam was caught in the deep and Jake Fraser-McGurk snapped up his third catch as Irfan Khan also offered a tame shot to deep midwicket.

Pakistan were 24-6 in the fourth over when Salman Ali Agha scored only four on his debut in T20, guiding a sharp, short Bartlett delivery to Australia's first-time captain Josh Inglis on the run.

Leg-spinner Zampa clean-bowled Shaheen and Naseem off successive balls in the last over to complete the rout.