Maxwell, Bartlett and Ellis feast in Australia’s crushing win in bizarre seven-over T20

Inclement weather in Brisbane shortened Thursday night’s T20 between Australia and Pakistan to a seven-over-a-side smash-a-thon.

Constant rain and intermittent lightning around the Gabba prompted a shortened match which had Glenn Maxwell licking his lips as Australia made 4/93 off their allotted seven overs.

Matthew Short (7) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (9) were both dismissed cheaply after multiple boundaries between them early before Maxwell crunched 43 off 19 balls with five fours and three sixes.

Batting at three, Maxwell used reverse sweeps, switch hits, ramps and all sorts of unorthodox stroke play to guide the Aussies to a defendable total.

The match was delayed for almost three hours and Maxwell admits he and his teammates were expecting it to be abandoned.

“I certainly had a lot of fun out there,” Maxwell said post-match.

“To get the opportunity to bat for an over in the power play and have a bit of fun was great.

“We thought we had enough on the board, there was a little bit of tack in the wicket and then the bowlers did a great job.

“There were a few of us that had packed our bags expecting the game to be called off. It was a mad rush to get ourselves up and ready for an international fixture.

“Credit to the guys, we went out there and made sure the batters came out with great intent to try and clear the ropes.”

He was supported by Marcus Stoinis who made 21 not out from seven deliveries. Tim David was the other dismissed batsman, out for 10 from eight balls.

In response, Pakistan never really got going and could only muster 9/64 after falling to 6/24 after four overs.

Abbas Afridi top-scored with 20 not out off 10 balls while Haseebullah Khan (12) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (11) were the only other batters to reach double figures.

Nathan Ellis (3/9) and Xavier Barttlett (3/12) did the damage with the ball and Adam Zampa took 2/11 off one over.

It was a bizarre night in Brisbane as the Aussies took a 1-0 lead in the three-game T20 series which heads to Sydney on Saturday night.