Australia coach Andrew McDonald has brushed off concerns over the team’s failure to win Test matches from key positions after Pakistan disappointed Pat Cummins’ side in the Karachi draw.
Australia, despite chasing 506 runs and bowling more than 171 overs, fell three wickets short of victory in the second Test and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
They have now matched five such failures in their last 19 Test matches to take teams out on the fifth day to win.
Interim head coach McDonald said Australia failed to seize the opportunities in Karachi but at least managed to grab them.
“We have got good confirmation that the style of cricket we want to play will continue,” he told reporters.
“But if you constantly put yourself in those (winning) situations, we will find a way through them. Opportunities were missed on that last day but we saw ourselves well into it, and that’s what I’m really proud of.”
McDonald said morale was high in the Australian camp as the standoff series headed for the final match in Lahore, which hosts its first Test since 2009.
Paceman Mitchell Starc’s reverse swing helped set up an ultimately fruitless push for Australia’s win, and McDonald said the left-hander would be given another crack if he was fit for the decider.
“Reverse swing is important for us in terms of opening that game up,” he said.
McDonald’s praised Mitchell Swepson’s debut in Karachi but said the selectors would look at the Lahore surface before deciding whether the legspinner would get another chance to bowl with regular spinner Nathan Lyon.
Swepson took two wickets in the first innings, but after getting several chances from his bowling in the second innings, ended with match figures of 2/188.
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