Pakistan vs. Australia, Only T20: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

David Warner's half-century led Australia to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday as the visitors kicked off a month-long tour of the UAE.

Hosts Pakistan posted a meagre total of 96 in their innings, and despite a little faltering, the Aussies registered the win with six overs to spare.  

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi won the toss and elected to bat first, but his side did not make the start he would have been expecting or wanting.

They were three down after just five overs, Awais Zia, Umar Amin and Sohaib Maqsood all falling to the bowling of Glenn Maxwell.

As cricket writer Lizzy Ammon comments, Pakistan are rarely involved in boring encounters:

However, the hosts would likely have traded excitement for a few extra runs in Dubai on Sunday as the wickets continued to tumble, Pakistan falling to 46-4 before the half-way stage.

With wickets going at such regular intervals, it was impossible for Pakistan to get any sort of momentum, and the scoring rate was very slow to the obvious delight of the Australians.

Total	for 9	96
Batsman	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Ahmed Shehzad	c Finch b Boyce	10	20	2	0
Awais Zia	c Richardson b Maxwell	3	7	0	0
Umar Amin	st †Haddin b Maxwell	0	3	0	0
Sohaib Maqsood	b Maxwell	0	3	0	0
Saad Nasim	b Starc	25	32	0	0
Umar Akmal†	c Warner b Richardson	1	5	0	0
Shahid Afridi*	lbw b Abbott	2	3	0	0
Anwar Ali	c Richardson b Boyce	5	11	0	0
Wahab Riaz	c Starc b Faulkner	16	20	1	0
Raza Hasan	not out	13	13	1	0
Mohammad Irfan	not out	1	3	0	0
Extras	(lb 7, w 13)	20
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Econ.
Maxwell	3	0	13	3	4.33
Starc	4	0	17	1	4.25
Boyce	4	0	10	2	2.50
Richardson	3	0	13	1	4.33
Abbott	3	0	17	1	5.66
Smith	1	0	4	0	4.00
Faulkner	2	0	15	1	7.50

About the only positive for Afridi and his men was that they did see out all 20 overs but finished on a rather pitiful 96-9 as Aussie debutants Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson and Sean Abbott all claimed wickets.

Skipper Aaron Finch—taking charge of his national side for the first time—said before the game that he was not feeling any added pressure on his own play, per Brydon Coverdale on ESPNcricinfo, and his side's bowling performance set up what looked to be an easy task for the batsmen: "I don't think it (the captaincy) adds any pressure to my personal game. I think when we get out into the field and it's time to make decisions about bowling and fielding positions, I think that's when I'll start to get a little bit more nervous."

However, despite the low target, Australia did not get their chase off to the best of starts, Finch himself falling to Raza Hasan for just five runs in the third over.

Francois Nel/Getty Images

With Warner performing well at the top of the order, the Aussies stayed well ahead of the required rate, but lost three more wickets to up the pressure slightly and were 56-4 in the ninth over.

Total	for 4	98
Batsman	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Warner	not out	54	39	4	3
Finch*	c Mohammad Irfan b Raza Hasan	5	9	1	0
Maxwell	lbw b Shahid Afridi	17	10	3	0
Smith	c Wahab Riaz b Raza Hasan	3	6	0	0
Hughes	c Sohaib Maqsood b Wahab Riaz	6	8	1	0
Faulkner	not out	7	13	0	0
Extras	(lb 4, w 1, nb 1)	6
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Econ
Raza Hasan	4	0	17	2	4.25
Mohammad Irfan	2	0	20	0	10.00
Shahid Afridi	4	0	17	1	4.25
Wahab Riaz	2	0	15	1	7.50
Saad Nasim	1	0	12	0	12.00
Sohaib Maqsood	1	0	13	0	13.00

However, the equation was continuously against the Pakistani's, the home side paying the price for a poor batting performance, per Cricket Australian:

Indeed, Warner brought home the victory with ease—sensible play paired with his trademark aggression, including a switch-hit maximum to bring up his fifty. The visitors eventually won by six wickets.

The two sides will now play three one-day internationals and two Test matches, and the Aussies will likely take a great deal of momentum from Sunday's easy win.