Pakistan bowls in seven-over shootout after rain delay

Pakistan's decision to bowl first against Australia paid off as they were able to restrict the opposition to a modest total.

Pakistan opted to field first in the first of three T20Is at the Gabba. A match that lightning and persistent rain delayed in Brisbane for the best part of three hours got underway as a seven-over contest. Pakistan will field a batting-heavy line-up, with left-arm fast bowler Jahandad Khan omitted at the last minute for wicketkeeper-batter Sahibzada Farhan. Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf all play, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan - who skippers the T20 side for the first time - are slotted in to open.

Australia captain Josh Inglis admitted he would have fielded first, too. Much of their top five is unchanged from the ODI series, with Adam Zampa the specialist spinner, while Tim David comes into the middle order. Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson round out the bowling attack.

A seven-over game means two bowlers can bowl a maximum of two overs, with no other bowlers allowed more than one. The powerplay consists of two overs.

Australia: 1 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 2 Matt Short, 3 Josh Inglis (capt & wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Tim David, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Spencer Johnson

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam, 2 Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), 3 Sahibzada Farhan, 4 Usman Khan, 5 Salman Agha, 6 Irfan Khan, 7 Abbas Afridi, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Haseebullah Khan, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Naseem Shah