Abu Dhabi (UAE), May 4 (ANI): Acting Australian captain Michael Clarke has said that his team’s defeat in the fifth one-day international against Pakistan has taken away some of the gloss from the series win.
Speaking after Pakistan thrashed Australia by seven wickets, Clarke said: “Of course it does, we would have liked to have won.”
“We thought with 250 runs on the board we had enough, we just had to bowl well and field well. We knew the wicket was playing a little bit better tonight than it has done, but we just didn’t execute well enough with the ball. I thought we let ourselves down again in the field,” The Australian quoted Clarke, as saying.
“I think when you look through the whole series, our fielding’s probably been the one standout that needs improvement,” he added.
Clarke praised youngster Callum Ferguson for his batting throughout the series and said left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger impressed in his first three one-day internationals.
“A lot of the guys that have been given an opportunity have grabbed it with both hands,” Clarke said.
On Shane Watson, he said: “It’s been great for Watto to come back in and play the way he’s played.”
Pakistan captain Younus Khan said it was a relief that two of his side’s senior batsmen finally stood up to be counted.
“The whole series we were missing that big partnership. Thank God in the end we had a good partnership. It’s good if you finish with a win, it’s always memorable, so thank God we won the last game,” Khan said. (ANI)