Australia have vowed to maintain their attacking mindset with the bat despite an Adelaide Oval calamity being one of the country’s most embarrassing ODI losses.
Pakistan levelled the ODI series at 1-1 after thrashing Australia by nine wickets on Friday night.
Australia were bowled out for 163 in 35 overs, with Pakistan cruising to the victory target with 141 balls to spare.
It marked the first time since 1992 that Australia have lost a home ODI by nine wickets.
The three-match series will be decided on Sunday when the two teams lock horns at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Australia’s attacking approach has been a hallmark of recent ODI success, with the nation winning their sixth World Cup crown last year.
But the aggressive mindset has proved unsuccessful in this current series.
Only Pat Cummins’ heroics with the bat helped Australia reach the 204-run victory target in game one at the MCG.
But the wheels fell off completely in Adelaide, with Australia crashing to 8-130 on the way to the heavy defeat.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald declared his team won’t be changing their tried-and-tested approach despite recent batting wobbles.
“We’re committed to the style that we want to (play),” McDonald said.
“We’ve won I think 16 out of the last 19 games, and we’ve got some changing personnel within that, but we believe in the style we want to play as a group.
“If you look at the dismissals, there were some defensive strokes within that. I think it’s just finding that balance.
“We’ve had great success with the style we want to play at the top of the order, making sure we’re putting pressure on opposition bowling units.
“Over the journey so far it’s served us well.”
With Mitch Marsh and Travis Head on paternity leave, openers Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk are yet to grasp their opportunity.
Short has posted scores of 19 and one, with 22-year-old rising star Fraser-McGurk (13 and 16) also yet to fire.
McDonald is backing the pair to turn their fortunes around.
“Matt Short (in the ODIs and T20s) in England showed he’s up to the task,” McDonald said.
“And Jake is not the finished article either. I think everyone thinks he may be the finished article.
“He’s going on a journey with his career, and we believe he’s good enough to play at this level at this point in time.
“Clearly there’s always going to be some setbacks within that. But we believe we’ve got the right personnel in there to continue to grow as a group.”
Australia will make mass changes for the series decider in Perth.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will all be rested so they can prepare for the upcoming five-Test series against India.
Josh Inglis will captain the ODI side in Perth, while Lance Morris, Spencer Johnson, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly and Marcus Stoinis are among the possible inclusions.
Australia will need to find an answer on how best to handle star Pakistan paceman Haris Rauf, who has snared 3-67 and 5-29 so far this series.
AAP
