Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first in the 1st T20I against Australia at Birmingham. Umar Akmal half-century set up Pakistan's innings but this time their bowlers, led by Mohammad Aamer, did enough to strangle Australia's run-rate and deny Michael Clarke's men, who couldn't chase down 168. The highlight of Umar Akmal 64 was a pair of sixes straight down the ground off Smith, but his ability to the find the gaps and invent ways of scoring was remarkable. It takes a brave man to paddle sweep a Dirk Nannes full toss off middle stump, but Umar made it look like the most logical selection of stroke and ran the ball to the fine-leg boundary.Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik (21) revived the innings with a stand of 51 after Pakistan lost three wickets for two runs in six balls to slump to 47 for four in the eighth over. Umar hoisted left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson for a huge six and pulled him for four off successive balls to go to a 21-ball fifty before he was bowled by Tait to the disappointment of an overwhelmingly Pakistan-supporting crowd.This Victory put Pakistan 1-0 up ahead of the second and final Twenty20 here on Tuesday. These matches, and this month's two Tests between the sides at Lord's and Headingley are being played in England because of concerns regarding the security situation in Pakistan.
Team Squads:-
AUS - DA Warner, SR Watson, MJ Clarke, DJ Hussey, CL White,MEK Hussey, SPD Smith,TD Paine, MG Johnson, DP Nannes and SW Tait.
PAK -Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hasan, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Akhtar
