Clarke says Aussies will take time to enjoy win

Australian acting captain Michael Clarke says the team will take time to enjoy their stunning comeback win over Pakistan before preparing for the next game in the series.

Clarke starred with bat and ball as Australia pulled off a remarkable turnaround in Abu Dhabi on Monday night.

Pakistan looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory at 0-95 after 22 overs, in reply to Australia’s disappointing 7-198.

But off-spinner Nathan Hauritz and then left-arm finger-spinner Clarke each took two wickets in two balls in the space of three overs to spark a Pakistan collapse of 10-77 and notch a 27-run win.

Clarke had earlier top-scored with 66 and followed that with figures of 3-15 on the spin-friendly pitch.

The win gave Australia a 2-1 lead in the five-game series, with the remaining two matches to be played this coming Friday and then two days later.

But Clarke said while Australia still had areas of their game that needed work, they would take time to enjoy the victory first.

“We definitely have a lot to work on but I can guarantee we won’t be thinking about it tonight,” Clarke said after the match.

“We have a few days off or a few days with no cricket, which will be nice.

“The boys should be very happy, very proud, it was a wonderful performance.

“I thought our bowlers, the way we fielded, was fantastic, they showed plenty of courage and I’m very happy with how we performed.”

Clarke said Australia should have made at least 20 runs more than they did.

But on a pitch that had slow bounce and inconsistent turn, particularly with the old ball, he always believed they could make the chase difficult for Pakistan.

“I knew if we bowled and fielded well we would get enough opportunities,” he said.

“Even though they were 0-95 at one stage, I was still confident that on that wicket once the ball got a little bit older we could win the game.”

He introduced himself to the attack in the 26th over, in what proved a masterstroke as he took wickets with his first two balls, then a third in his third over.

“I tried to wait as long as possible before I had to bowl, to be honest,” he said.

“It’s always good to bowl in conditions like that, when the ball’s spinning, obviously it makes it a little bit harder to score.

“For me it was just about trying to put the ball in a half-decent area and hope some spun and some didn’t and fortunately I had a little bit of luck tonight.”

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said too many of the side’s middle order batsmen had thrown their wickets away recklessly.

“I don’t think that Australia got us out, we got ourselves out,” Alam said.

“We made things difficult for ourselves.”

But he said it was a good experience for his team to be put under pressure by the Australians and a situation they needed to learn how to handle.

AAP scl/lf