Australia win rain-hit T20I opener against Pakistan in Brisbane

Australia shrugged off their ODI woes to beat Pakistan in a rain-shortened T20I opener at the Gabba on Thursday night.

With poor weather delaying the start of play by more than two hours, the game was reduced to seven-over innings under the Duckworth Lewis Stern method.

Pakistan won the toss and sent the Aussies in to bat, and touring skipper Mohammad Rizwan may have been questioning that call after Matthew Short (7) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) plundered 16 runs from the first over.

Despite losing Fraser-McGurk on the seventh ball of the innings, Australia finished the second over at 1/33 after Glenn Maxwell hit four boundaries from his first six balls (including a no-ball).

Maxwell carried on in that fashion before falling for 43 from 19 balls midway through the sixth over.

Marcus Stoinis picked up the slack late, smashing 21 from seven deliveries as the hosts posted 4/94.

Facing an uphill battle, Pakistan never really got going.

None of the top six made it to double digits, with the tourists left reeling at 6/24 early in the fourth over.

Abbas Afridi added an unbeaten 20 to his standout bowling figures of 2/9, but it was all in vain as Pakistan slumped to a 29-run defeat.

Aussie seamers Nathan Ellis (3/9) and Xavier Bartlett (3/13) both enjoyed fruitful nights, while Adam Zampa finished with 2/11 after taking back-to-back wickets with the last two balls of the match.

The action heads to Sydney on Saturday, with Australia pegged as $1.45 favourites with top cricket betting sites.

Meanwhile, the hosts have plunged to $1.07 in the series betting at Bet365, with Pakistan at long odds $8.50 to complete the comeback.

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