McDermott debuts, Maxi hits milestone

Glenn Maxwell becomes just the third Australian to play fifty T20 matches for his country as he lined up in the one-off T20 match against the UAE in Abu Dhabi, won by Australia with a seven-wicket margain.

Match report: Aussies safely past spirited UAE

Hobart Hurricanes big-hitter Ben McDermott makes his international debut, but will feature in the middle order for this power-packed Australia side.

The Australians will bowl first after captain Aaron Finch called incorrectly at the toss with UAE captain Rohan Mustafa at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium's Nursery Ground.

Played adjacent to Abu Dhabi's main venue, where Australia's Test squad were thrashed by 373-runs by Pakistan last week, this one-off T20 international is the first ever official meeting in any format between Australia and the UAE.

The match had been scheduled as a warm-up ahead of Australia's three-match T20 series with Pakistan, that begins on Wednesday, but has been granted full international status.

It means Maxwell reaches his 50th T20 international against the world's 13th-ranked team, becoming just the third player to reach that milestone, along with Shane Watson and David Warner.

McDermott, the son of Australia fast bowling legend Craig McDermott, shot into the national T20 squad after a red-hot streak in the JLT One-Day Cup this summer that continued his impressive rise in the Big Bash ranks with the Hurricanes. 

He posted scores of 117, 102no, 56 and 76 for Tasmania in the JLT One-Day Cup as they reached the tournament final.

He recieved backing from Queensland captain Jimmy Peirson after the former Bull blazed a century against his old state. "He's putting good numbers on the board and has done well in T20 cricket for a couple of years now, (he's) a brutal player who can hit the ball hard," said Peirson.

UAE skipper Rohan said the pressure would be on the Australians in their first meeting with the home side.

"We have nothing to lose. After their loss in Test series, the pressure will be on them to perform," Rohan told local reporters.

"Yes, it will be a great learning experience but we will surely push to win the match."

"This is a great opportunity for the UAE to play Australia and do well against them. A decent show by our players will get them instant recognition.

"This will be good to get into some league or somewhere similar. If you are able to pull an upset win over Australia, you will be making a great statement.

"We know the opportunity we have in front of us. Such a chance to play an international team has come after a long while and we are ready to make the most out of it.

"Two or three players putting a good show can change the course of a T20 match. We will go all out against them."

The match will not be televised by the host broadcaster in the UAE.

Australia XI: Finch, Short, Lynn, Maxwell, McDermott, Carey (wk), Agar, Coulter-Nile, Tye, Zampa, Stanlake.

UAE XI: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Ghulam Shabbir, Imran Haider, Ahmed Raza, Muhammad Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Shaiman Anwar #UAEvAUS

Qantas T20 Tour of the UAE

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Mitch Marsh (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf

Oct 22: T20 v UAE, Abu Dhabi

Oct 24: First T20, Abu Dhabi

Oct 26: Second T20, Dubai

Oct 28: Third T20, Dubai

*All matches against Pakistan start at 8pm local time, 3am the following day AEDT