In the modern era, the spectre of the batting collapse has haunted the Australia Test team like the ghost of Christmas past. It’s not just the Cape Town 47 or the Trent Bridge 60 or the Hobart 85. There are plenty of less memorable slumps that have filled the gaps between those centrepiece debacles.

Not just the 10 for 92 in Johannesburg or the 10 for 50 in Cape Town that were the mark of a broken team earlier this year. There was last year’s eight for 86 in Chittagong against Bangladesh, or in India the seven for 50 in Dharamsala and the 10 for 90 in Bengaluru.

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Before South Africa’s 2016 hit job in Hobart, they had already knocked over 10 Australia wickets in Perth for 86. Or earlier that year in Sri Lanka, Australia lost a whole side for the addition of 83 in Colombo and 106 in Galle. Or before the famous Ashes rout at Trent Bridge in 2015, there was being bowled out for 136 at Edgbaston.

There are more, but I won’t keep throwing numbers. Except to say that losing the entire batting side after a good opening partnership is a popular variant. Cape Town in 2018 was one. Port Elizabeth in 2014, when a stand of 126 was followed by 10 for 90. Or Port Elizabeth 2018, when no wicket fell for 98 before they all fell for another 145.

As such, losing 10 for 60 in Dubai is just part of a rich tradition. Losing 10 for 60 after an opening stand of 142 made it a standout example of that tradition. In fact, no Australia team had ever lost 10 wickets so cheaply after a century opening stand. A little extra lustre to the jewel in the tiara.

On its first outing, this new-look Australia side conformed seamlessly to the tendencies of the old. Six wickets for the Pakistan debutant Bilal Asif, with his fascinating wristy off-breaks. Zero runs for the Australia debutants Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, both dismissed by Bilal. “That’s luck,” he said with a shrug and a smile after play.

Pity the poor opening batsmen who do the hard work and get let down. The third debutant Aaron Finch made 62, Usman Khawaja 85, before things fell apart. Of course decorum and team environment demands they succumb to outrageous politeness, in the style of a person who apologises to you after you stand on their foot. “I probably left us hanging there only getting 60,” Finch told Wisden’s radio broadcast after play. “If I go on and get 140, 150, and Ussie does the same, we’re probably in a different situation.”

But really it was the same issue with Australia sides who can’t find a way to hold it together when things get tough. For two days, Pakistan’s batsmen were singing Radiohead lyrics: no alarms and no surprises. They never dominated the run rate but dominated occupation. They built their imposing 482 through patience, knowing the pitch contained no demons.

Australia faced quality bowling from practitioners more accustomed to the conditions but nonetheless it was never impossible. Finch and Khawaja had batted through a mini-session the previous evening, then the entire morning session of day three, adding 107 runs into the bargain.

Finch lofted the ball when spinners pitched full, and cut or pulled when short, but mostly concentrated on working it around and sweating through his shirt as he ran up and down. Khawaja had a few slips in concentration and a dose of luck, but mostly held admirable focus, moving around the crease to defend against the spinners, and releasing pressure against the seamers.

Their strengths brought both undone. Pakistan brought in a short straight mid-off and mid-on given Finch’s liking for a firm straight drive, and he thumped the seamer Mohammad Abbas firmly at ankle height to the latter for Asad Shafiq to take a smart catch.

Khawaja nailed a sweep from Bilal, then lost concentration for a second and followed the same action to a shorter ball. He was standing upright, never in position, so it became an awkward lap shot whose top edge landed with leg slip.

Shaun Marsh had come and gone, promoted to first drop to take responsibility as the senior batsman, then lashing at an off-break to give Shafiq a slip catch and Bilal his first Test wicket. With Marsh and Khawaja in his pocket, Bilal wanted a full set. All eight of the deliveries that Head faced came from the off-spinner, who forced the batsman forward and back, beat his edge twice, and had the field set to stifle his attempts to score.

After making Head play at seven straight balls, Bilal turned one a fraction wider, and Head’s desperate lash was edged to a diving Haris Sohail at second slip. His bendy wrist imparts a huge amount of overspin on the ball, giving him bounce as well as turn, enough to have Labuschagne glove his second ball to short leg.

Bilal’s fifth came with a faint edge off captain Tim Paine to bat-pad, while Abbas turned in a skilful spell tailored for dry conditions, at the stumps with a hint of reverse, to trap Mitchell Marsh, bowl Peter Siddle, and nick off Mitchell Starc. Nathan Lyon gave Bilal a final bonus by slapping to square leg.

Three ducks, seven single-figure scores, and a high score of 12: such was the effort from the nine batsmen after the openers. Even extras managed to scrape together 13. The total was 202, the deficit 280, and even though Australia nabbed three wickets at the cost of 45 runs by stumps, with two days to play they had left themselves no way back into the game.

Whether the partisan reaction was delight or disappointment, the feeling for those around the Australia team and those who support it was all too familiar. Equally familiar was the bewilderment about why this keeps happening, and what can be done.