Australia’s ineptitude against spin bowling has resulted in another defeat on foreign soil, with Pakistan defying the world rankings and its own inexperience to win the first Test by 221 runs.

Needing an improbable 438 in the fourth innings, Australia was spun out for 216 on the final day to give the undermanned Pakistanis an admirable ‘home-away-from-home’ victory in Dubai.

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While Australia was technically inadequate, it at least showed pluck, holding out until just over an hour remained in the match thanks to some defiant batting from Steve Smith (55) and Mitchell Johnson (61).

It was a gutsy effort after the side had limped to lunch at 7-117, losing Chris Rogers (43), Marsh (3) and Haddin (0) in the first session.

Close call: the third umpire ruled Mitchell Johnson out stumped. Photo: Getty

Smith was the only man to fall in the middle session, making it eight down at tea.

Johnson played boldly and Australia dared to dream of a draw before he was contentiously given out stumped by the third umpire, despite the shadow of his boot making it extremely hard to tell whether he was in his ground.

Lehmann’s body language suggested he had a different opinion to the third umpire, Englishman Nigel Llong.

Regardless, there was an air of inevitability about the defeat, given the daunting target, the dominance of the Pakistani slow men and the wearing pitch.

Australia can now hope only to level the two-Test series, with the second Test to be played in Abu Dhabi from Thursday.

Australia has lost its last five matches on subcontinent-style pitches, following the 4-0 debacle in India in 2013, in which the side was in danger of disintegrating on and off the field before the appointment of Darren Lehmann as coach.

Yet not even the advent of the once twinkle-toed Lehmann, the presence of Michael Clarke – widely regarded as one of the world’s best players of spin – and the emergence of David Warner and Steven Smith as genuine world-class players has been enough to improve Australia’s fortunes in dry, dusty conditions.

In all, spinners took 15 of the 20 Australian wickets to fall.

The tourists did a good impression of a side spooked by the mysteries of slow bowling: Warner charged inexplicably; Alex Doolan went back instead of forward; Clarke failed to refer an lbw off the inside edge; Haddin let a straight one through a gap in his defences; and Mitchell Marsh thrust his bat forward like a man used to batting on hard decks in Perth (which of course he is) to be caught in close.

Steven Smith after his dismissal for a brace half-century. Photo: Getty

The improbable heroes with the ball for Pakistan were a pair of spinners who have played a grand total of four Tests between them.

Left-arm orthodox tweaker Zulfiqar Babar finished with match figures of 7-155, including a five wicket haul in the second innings, not bad for a 35-year-old in his third Test.

Yasir Shah, a 28-year-old leggie, was even more impressive, taking 7-116 on debut and winning the admiration of no less a judge than Shane Warne, who praised him for his bouncy style and clever variation.

The contrast with the Australian spinners was stark.

Nathan Lyon, who with 33 Tests under his belt is vastly more experienced than either of the Pakistanis, managed 2-220, figures which pale even against debutant teammate Steve O’Keefe’s 4-219.

Nathan Lyon rarely bowls poorly, and has easily been the best of the dozen or so post-Warne spinners for Australia, but the truth is he seldom takes bags of wickets when the conditions seem to suit his craft most.

Asked what Australia could do to improve its showing against spin, Michael Clarke said, in all seriousness, that his team needed to “use our bat a little bit more”.

“A lot of us got out to balls that didn’t spin as much as much as we might have thought,” he said. “Over the next couple of days we can work on actually hitting the ball.”

A novel idea.

One player who did not have any trouble hitting the ball was Pakistan’s man of substance Younis Khan, who won the man of the match award for his back-to-back centuries.

Pakistan’s achievement was all the more remarkable for the hurdles that it climbed to get there, not least of which is that it does not get to play international cricket on its home soil.

Further, its frontline spinner, Saeed Ajmal, is sidelined because of doubts about the legitimacy of his action, while injury forced seamer Junaid Khan out of the series, forcing it into fielding another debutant in Imran Khan.

No wonder that the ‘home’ captain, 40-year-old Misbah-ul-Haq, paid tribute to the “wonderful” temperament of his young side.

“It’s really a remarkable performance by these youngsters.”