George Bailey has insisted that Pakistan's performance, and not the failure of Shane Watson with the bat, was the key factor in Australia's first defeat of the World Twenty20 tournament.

Australia booked their place in the semi-finals of the competition despite the 32-run defeat and Bailey believes that his side deserved to be beaten in Colombo.

The T20 captain 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."

Bailey also claimed that Australia were not too reliant on all-rounder Watson, after the 31-year-old failed with the bat for the first time in the tournament.

"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," he added.

Australia will play the West Indies in the second semi-final on Friday, while Sri Lanka play Pakistan on Thursday.