DUBAI: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said his team will look for a confidence-boosting win over Australia in the second day-night international in Dubai on Friday.
Pakistan lost by 93 runs in the opening match of three in Sharjah on Tuesday and looked well short on confidence.
Steven Smith hit a maiden hundred to bolster Australia to 255-8 before paceman Mitchell Johnson and spinner Nathan Lyon shared five wickets to bowl out Pakistan for a low 162 in 36.3 overs.
Misbah said his batsmen needed one good innings to get them going.
"At the moment our confidence is shaky," said Misbah on Thursday.
"When your confidence is bad even a straight ball becomes difficult for you, all these players have performed well before but at the moment they need one good innings to restore that confidence."
Misbah said levelling the series was important.
"Yes, it is very important to level the series, for the sake of saving the series, for the sake of the team and the management. "Winning is always very important and it is more important with the World Cup coming up," said Misbah of the global event to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in February-March next year. "A win puts all the things in the right place. It is very important that you keep working hard and don't lose hope," said Misbah, who is also under pressure to perform after flopping on the last tour of Sri Lanka in August.
He managed just 67 runs in the two Tests and as many runs (67) in the three-match one-day series in Sri Lanka when Pakistan lost both.
He was dismissed for a first-ball duck in Sharjah.
Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan has recovered from a shoulder injury and is likely to replace allrounder Anwar Ali.
Australia too have brought in left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty for Mitchell Marsh (ruled out of the tour with a hamstring injury) and may replace him with a fast bowler.
Brad Haddin said Australia will take advantage of opponents being short on confidence.
"That's good for us," said Haddin when told of Misbah's comments. "I will go back and tell the boys. It's good because the matches are just a few days apart."
Haddin said if Australia win on Friday, only then would they think of a whitewash.
"I think it was good to start the series with a win," said Haddin. "If we win tomorrow then a 3-0 whitewash will be on radar."
If Australia win 3-0 they will regain number one rankings in one-day internationals. Australia won the only Twenty20 in Dubai by six wickets on Sunday.
The third and final game will be played in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Teams (from):
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Sami Aslam, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq, Sohaib Maqsood, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Raza Hasan, Mohammad Irfan, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Sohail Tanvir.
Australia: George Bailey (captain), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Phil Hughes, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Sean Abbott, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Xavier Doherty.
Umpires: Nigel Llong (ENG) and Shozaib Raza (PAK)
Tv umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)
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