Clarke shares blame for Pakistan loss

Pakistan thumped Australia by seven wickets to level the three-match series at 1-1, leaving the prospect of an intriguing third match in Sharjah tomorrow. Australia won the first match by four wickets in Sharjah.u00a0Clarke said that electing to bat first after winning the toss had backfired. "It was the wrong decision after winning the toss to bat first."

Michael Clarke on Friday. Pic/AFP

Sparked by a 61 from Michael Hussey, Australia posted a score of 248-9 in with Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal taking 4-32. Opener Nasir Jamshed smashed a 98-ball 97 to put Pakistan on track before Azhar Ali (59 not out) and Misbah-ul Haq (39 not out) helped Pakistan chase down the target with 6.2 overs to spare. "Full credit to Pakistan. I thought they played really well, they bowled really well, then they came out and batted well, so I don't want to take anything away from Pakistan, they outplayed us," said Clarke.

Misbah agreed it was a good toss to lose. "It was a good toss to lose. Both the teams were not sure about what was going to happen because there wasn't so much dew on Thursday night. But dew was a major factor on Friday," Misbah said.