After last week's soggy defeat to Pakistan, I expected more of a fight by Australia. So what happened? They suffered a third heaviest drubbing in their entire Test history. Michael Clarke's men were beaten in every single department and the numerical margin of 356 runs tells only half the story.
I don't know how much of this was down to poor performances by the tourists but Pakistan seemed to have been playing with a new-found spirit and confidence they have so often been lacking. All that pent-up frustration was taken out on the number two side in the world in extraordinary fashion. This was epitomised by Misbah-ul-Haq. The skipper, well into his 41st year, has long had a reputation of being a solid, snore-inducing Test batsman, with s atrike rate barely above 40. So how did the spirit of a young Shahid Afridi suddenly occupy his body on the fourth day?
True, he was looking to rack up quick runs to set an impossible final innings target but he went on to equal the world record for a Test century, reaching three figures in 57 balls, including five sixes. Remember this was no makeshift bowling attack but one featuring Johnson, Starc and Siddle. With partner Azhar Ali also making 100 not out, the lead extended to a ludicrous 603! The more amazing statistic is that those two had also each scored hundreds in the first innings, a feat last achieved by a Pakistan batsman - just a week earlier! That was Younis Khan, who proceeded to follow that by striking 213 in the first innings of this match, sharing two stands of more than 180 in the process. Being dismissed second time out for a mere 46 must have seemed a miserable anticlimax were it not for the blazing antics of Misbah immediately afterwards.
But it's not batsmen who win matches on their own. Pakistan still had to take twenty wickets again but their spin attack once more made Nathan Lyon and part-timers Smith, Clarke and Maxwell look woefully inadequate on the Abu Dhabi wicket. In the match Lyon took 1-202 in 55 overs while Zulfiqar Babar finished with 7-214, Yasir Shah 5-91 and Mohammad Hafeez 3-51, while the seamers also chipped in with a few. Pakistan didn't even need their second innings fireworks as their first innings total proved more than enough to outstrip Australia's two efforts.
Chris Rogers was the only complete failure but only David Warner, Mitch Marsh and Steve Smith passed 50 at least once. Brad Haddin's winces were probably the result of his damaged shoulder but they could easily have been the response to seeing a once-formidable outfit taken to the cleaners so emphatically.
In addition to claiming a first series win over Australia for decades, Pakistan leap up to third in the ICC rankings. The Aussies remain one place ahead but a glance further down the table sees India stumbling to six, a whisker ahead of New Zealand. How quickly fortunes can change. Can Clarke and Cricket Australia comfort themselves with the notion of the World Cup being a whole new ball game? Perhaps. But if Pakistan and the mighty Misbah can bring the spirit of UAE with them Down Under next year, Saeed Ajmal or not, they could have a genuine chance of success in the 50-over tournament.
