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Pakistan collapse inexplicable: Misbah

Cape Town - Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq could offer little in the way of an explanation for Pakistan's spectacular final day collapse at the MCG against Australia.

Pakistan had posted a big score in their first innings only to find themselves trying to save the game on day five and wilted under the pressure.

The game appeared to be ambling towards a draw with Pakistan nedding only to survive two sessions and four overs but they crumbled in a heap in the final session.

Misbah said: "There is no explanation.

"Once you are under pressure, from a position when you score [443] in the first innings and are dominating the game, then on the last day you are saving the Test, that pressure sometimes does things like that. And it was sheer pressure. Full credit to Australia, the way they batted and put us under pressure."

Misbah conceded that they allowed Australia back into the game when David Warner and Usman Khawaja weren't kept in check on day three.

The skipper is aware that Pakistan's batting under pressure is suspect having seen similar collapses in England and again in the UAE against the West Indies.

Misbah added: "Those two sessions took the game away from us almost.

"From a winning position, you are on the back foot. We just gave the momentum back to Australia. They were a bit lucky they played well, took their chances, and after that we were in no position to attack.

"Even today, in the morning session, we could've taken a couple of wickets. [Mitchell] Starc played well and that was a big blow for us. If we had taken one more wicket, wrapped the tail up, maybe 50-60 runs deficit, it could have been easy for us to handle the situation."

The inability of Pakistan's bowling attack to put Australia under pressure also came under the microscope as they allowed Australia to take control of the game and put the visitors under the cosh.

Misbah would go on: "I think as a bowling unit, we couldn't put pressure.

"When the opposition is playing well and you're not bowling well, then it is difficult to implement any sort of plan, any sort of strategy. That has been happening to us.

"Yasir is a bit low on confidence at the moment. That sometimes doesn't give you control as a captain. When you have no control, you struggle with your strategies. And it looks to those sitting outside, watching, what's going on? That's where I think everything went wrong for us in this Test."

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