Short goes berserk in Aussies blistering start before Pakistan star’s double strike

Australia are 2-52 from 4 overs after winning the toss and batting first in the second T20 at the SCG, with Matt Short (31) and Glenn Maxwell (0) at the crease.

Australia dominated early with 21 off the first over as Fraser-McGurk hit three straight fours and a six.

Australia won the toss and will bat first in the second Twenty20 International against Pakistan at the SCG.

Australia have gone in with an unchanged line-up from the XI that got the job done in a shortened series opener.

Fraser-McGurk was first man out caught by Salman Ali Agha off Haris Rauf for 20 off nine balls.

Aussie skipper Josh Inglis came and went for a two ball duck caught by Sufiyan Muqeem to give Rauf two in the over.

MATCH PREVIEW

Australian quick Nathan Ellis is itching to string together as many games as possible for his country after making a successful return from injury against Pakistan earlier this week.

Shattered after a hamstring injury ruled him out of white-ball matches in September against Scotland and England, the 30-year-old paceman bounced back with three wickets in two overs in Australia’s 29-run win over the Pakistanis on Thursday night.

In the absence of Australia’s top three fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who are all preparing for the first Test against India starting Friday in Perth, Ellis showed off all his skills, taking 3-9 in the rain reduced opener.

And he wants another opportunity when the T20 series against Pakistan continues in Sydney on Saturday.

“The quicks in there now ­– myself, Spence (Spencer Johnson), ‘Sabba’ (Sean Abbott) and ‘X’ (Xavier Bartlett) we’re all chomping at the bit to get our opportunity and play as many games as we can and string as many games we can together while we’re here,” said the Hobart Hurricanes quick who now has 18 T20 internationals to his name.

“You never want to miss any games for Australia. You work so hard to get there … (but) that one specifically, I knew I was going to get a good opportunity to play some games for Australia, so it was one I had pinned on the calendar knowing the schedule and the workload of the stalwarts. I knew I was going to get a good run at it, so to miss that obviously was really disappointing.

“I’m really thankful to have put that behind me now, get back on the park, and get a win in Aussie colours.”

The second T20 between Australia and Pakistan gets underway at 7pm AEDT.