Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey played down team's reliance on Shane Watson after defeat to Pakistan

Saeed Ajmal: Pakistan spinner finished with 3-17 from his four overs

Shane Watson: rare failure from Australia opener

Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey scoffed at the idea they are overly reliant on Shane Watson, despite losing for the first time when he failed against Pakistan.

Bailey's men lost by 32 runs in Colombo, but still advanced to the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 after reaching the vital 112-run mark thanks to an unbeaten 54 from Michael Hussey. They were chasing 150 to win, but could only make 117-7, with Watson out for eight.

Pakistan's spinners took all seven wickets to fall, with Saeed Ajmal accounting for three of those scalps.

Bailey said: "Pakistan outplayed us. The ball turned more, they used spin against us well. I wanted my top-order batsmen to do the majority of the scoring, but they didn't."

Of the spin weakness, he added: "We worked hard on it but it did not show today. Tactically Pakistan played a shrewd game. We have good players of spin. We managed to beat them in Dubai too. However, we have to overcome this shortcoming.

"Twenty20 is all about momentum. We did not play well in the first six overs and hence could not reach the target. They took the catches well and fought hard."

He added of their previous unbeaten run: "We have chased well. We did chase very well against West Indies. The wicket here has changed a little bit tonight.

"They took early wickets and put us under pressure. They got Watson early. In fact, they bowled very few loose deliveries. We did not play the way we should have played."

Bailey was dismissive of the suggestion that they depend too much on Watson, adding: "We don't just depend on Shane. We also depend on Mike (Hussey) and Mitchell Starc too. Watson is so good that he overrides all performances. He is in top form."