Beleaguered Pakistan face ODI whitewash

Wahab Riaz ruled out of dead rubber against Australia in Abu Dhabi

DUBAI: Pakistan's World Cup preparations are anything but on track as they brace for the prospect of an ODI series whitewash at the hands of Australia -- ahead of the third and final match at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Stadium.

Captain Misbahul Haq has struggled with the bat recently and after a barren run in Sri Lanka, the unfortunate run out in Dubai on Friday summed up his ill-luck of late.

"The performance provides real worrying signs without a doubt. Our
performance is poor and we are struggling ahead of the World Cup. A
lot of work is required now for the premier event," said the captain.

Misbah was visibly sombre after the defeat and the 'Go Misbah Go'
chants by a small section of the Dubai crowd immediately after the
defeat must have worried him further.

But he did feel that there were positives that came out of the
defeat, especially the 126-run opening stand between Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfaraz Ahmed.

"The openers were really gutsy and the spinners bowled well. Really
disappointed with the batting collapse though which is inexplicable
after the start we got," he said.

The injury list is also growing every passing day as ahead of the
third and final ODI the Greenshirts are certain to leave out injured
fast bowler Wahab Riaz-Sohail Tanvir the likely replacement.

The bench strength of Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Amin are in
consideration for the Abu Dhabi game -- especially Maqsood, who Misbah feels was extremely unlucky to miss out the first two ODIs as Pakistan searched for 'balance' in the line-up after Mohammed Hafeez's webbing injury.

Aussies set eyes on whitewash

On the other hand, the Australians are flying high and are in no mood to relent after conquering spin oriented wickets in Sharjah and Dubai with consummate ease.

Man of the match in the Dubai ODI-Glenn Maxwell (76- run innings) assured reporters after the match that his team was in no mood to take the foot off the pedal.

"We are eyeing a series whitewash and will enter the third game with
the same mindset as we had for the opening two games".