Maxwell Leads Australian Charge In Rain-hit T20

Brisbane, Australia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Nov, 2018 ) :Glenn Maxwell plundered 46 off 24 balls to guide Australia to 158-4 in a rain-marred Twenty20 Wednesday as they look to gain an upper hand in the first game of India's long tour.

The big-hitting number four smacked four sixes in an explosive display before the heavens opened and the teams were called off by the umpires after 16.1 overs.

After an hour-long delay, they came back out to face five balls and Maxwell was out to the first of them, with the match reduced to 17 overs each.

Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern run rate system, India was set 174 to win.

Experienced bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar set the early tone, restricting Aaron Finch and D'Arcy Short to just 12 runs off the opening three overs after Virat Kohli won the toss and put Australia in to bat.

Finch, who averages over 40 in T20s, had a massive let-off on seven when Kholi fluffed what should have been a simple catch at short cover.

It encouraged him to open up and he hit two boundaries in quick succession to get the scoreboard ticking over, before Short fell to Khaleel Ahmed for seven trying to lift the ball out of the ground.

Big-hitting Chris Lynn came to the crease and drove his first ball for four. He set the Gabba on fire in the seventh over by crunching three huge sixes in one loose over from Ahmed.

But Finch went for 27 soon after when fooled by a wrong'un from Kuldeep Yadav and just as Lynn was getting in his stride he also fell to the spinner, trudging back to the pavilion for a quick-fire 37 off 20 balls.

It left Australia struggling on 75-3 halfway through their 20 overs.

Maxwell, one the fastest scorers in world cricket, played himself in then went into Lynn mode, whacking three successive sixes to take 23 off a Krunal Pandya over.

Ably partnered by Marcus Stoinis -- who clubbed an unbeaten 33 off 19 balls -- they put on 78 before the weather halted their progress.

The T20 in Brisbane is the start of three matches between the two sides in the space of five days before they face off in four Tests, followed by a one-day series.

They last time India played a T20 series in Australia, in 2016, they blanked the hosts 3-0.