Glenn Maxwell’s quickfire knock, followed by a combined bowling effort, led Australia to a convincing 29-run victory over Pakistan in the rain-hit first T20I of the three-match series here at The Gabba on Thursday.

Chasing a daunting 94-run target in seven overs, Pakistan only managed 64/9.

The visitors had a decent start to the pursuit as they amassed 12 runs for the loss of one wicket in the first over.

The touring side then ran into a gruelling middle-order collapse – included the dismissals of key batters Babar Azam (3) and Mohammad Rizwan (0) – and were consequently reduced to 20/5 in three overs.

Xavier Bartlett, who picked up two wickets in his first over, dismissed Salman Ali Agha (4) to keep Pakistan under pressure. The right-arm pacer recorded brilliant bowling figures of 13/3 in his quota of two overs.

Coming out to bat at No.8 with the visitors reeling at 24/6 in 3.2 overs, Abbas Afridi offered a notable fightback against the momentum-filled Australian bowling attack with an unbeaten 20-run cameo.

His efforts, however, were not enough to steer his side over the line as Pakistan succumbed to a 29-run defeat in the series opener.

Nathan Ellis led the bowling charge for Australia with astounding figures of 3/9 in two overs, while Adam Zampa bagged two wickets.

In a match that was reduced to seven overs per side, Pakistan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and put Australia into bat.

The hosts came out all guns blazing with openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short scoring 16 runs off the first over, bowled by ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Naseem Shah drew first success for Pakistan by dismissing Fraser-McGurk, nine off five, on the first delivery of his spell.

But Maxwell, promoted to bat at No.3, made sure the dismissal did not halt the flow of runs for the home side and dominated the proceedings despite Short’s departure in the third over.

The hard-hitting batter eventually fell victim to Mohammad Abbas in the penultimate over, which also saw the ouster of Tim David (9) as Australia slipped to 73/4 in six overs.

Maxwell remained the top-scorer for Australia with a 19-ball 43, laced with five fours and three sixes.

Marcus Stoinis then smashed Naseem for 20 runs in the final over and bolstered Australia’s total to 93/4 in the allotted seven overs.

The right-handed batter remained unbeaten with a seven-ball 21, which featured two fours and a six.

For Pakistan, Abbas bagged two wickets, while Shaheen and Naseem shared two between them.

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell has backed senior batter Steve Smith to have a sensational Test series against India. Smith, who returned to international cricket with a solid 44 in the 1st ODI against Pakistan, has said before that he is fully prepared to play the Test series against India and could get into the Test fray if the match was to start this week.

Maxwell, who is an instrumental part of the Australian white-ball team, spoke about Smith on ESPNcricinfo and said that the batter looked very crisp against Pakistan in the 1st ODI game.

“Steve Smith looks really crisp with his footwork and his timing and his movement looked in sync. He looked like he was unfazed by everything that was thrown at him. There were a couple of balls on the green off the length and he was able to deal with them quite easily. And I suppose that’s a really good sign of someone who is focused on the job and really in tune with their technique,” Maxwell said on Around the Cricket show on ESPN.

“To see him over the last week, putting in so many hours in training sort of says why he is one of the best players in the world. He is never satisfied. For the way he came out and bat the way he did, there was a nice moment where he hit a cover drive and you could see him looking at the big screen and give himself the nod of approval and that is a sign of him working on his tecnhnique and it is a scary proposition for this summer ahead,” he further added.

Speaking after Australia’s win against Pakistan in the 1st ODI match, Smith revealed that he was raring to go and if allowed could play a Test match in the first week of November. The former Australia captain scored 44 runs off 46 balls at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Smith has been among the talking points recently in Test cricket after claiming the opener’s spot in the absence of David Warner. After not having prolific results in the series against West Indies, Smith ended the experiment and decided to drop down to his original No.4 position. The batter’s form will be key for Australia as they push to qualify for the WTC Final, set to be hosted at Lord’s next year.

“My last week in preparation has been really good. I feel like I’m in a nice place and moving really well, I’m really balanced at the crease, and I feel like my bat’s coming down a nice plane. So I was happy with the way about it tonight. It would be nice to have been out there a little bit longer,” Smith told SEN Radio after Australia’s win in the 1st ODI vs Pakistan.

“I’m ready. I’m ready now. Yeah, I could go out and play a Test match tomorrow, so I feel like I’m in a good place. I’ve had a really good week of training, came down here early and had a few hits. And I was just trying to get a few things right that I felt like I didn’t quite have in sync. And it all just clicked. And I feel like I’m in a good place now,” Smith further added.

Australia’s batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell praised Pakistan team’s unique and unpredictable style of play ahead of the One Day International (ODI) series, scheduled to take place from November.

Speaking in an interview, Maxwell shed light on the challenges that teams face while preparing for contests against the men in green.

“They are very hard to prepare for and I suppose get ready for because you’re just not sure what could happen and they are so dangerous in all areas of the game. They’ve got good spinners they’ve got good quicks up front and they’ve got batters that can win games for them” Maxwell said.

“I think you are gonna see those ebbs and flows when you play against them in this white-ball series and it’s gonna be so entertaining because they play an amazing brand of cricket where literally anything could happen. It’s gonna be hard for us to stay in our own bubble and concentrate on our own things because they can be super destructive to whatever plans you’ve got,” he added.

It is worth noting here that the Rizwan-led side have reached Melbourne earlier on Wednesday.

Rizwan was accompanied by vice-captain Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafiq, Aamer Jamal, Saim Ayub, Kamran Ghulam, Haseebullah, and Arafat Minhas.

Previously, prominent players including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah alongside three other players arrived on Tuesday.