Steve Smith has confirmed an umpiring error meant play continued for an additional half an hour on day four of the day-night Test in Brisbane.
Pakistan went close to hauling in a record target of 490 at the Gabba, where Australia prevailed by 39 runs on Monday.
The tourists' hopes were boosted by Sunday's marathon final session, when they piled on 179 runs. Play was set to finish at 8pm local time but extended to 9pm because of showers.
Australia failed to get through their overs so another half an hour was added on. English umpires Ian Gould and Richard Illingworth then decided a result was on the cards, so play dragged on until 10.10pm.
The International Cricket Council's playing laws dictate that umpires, if they believe a result is possible, may "decide to play 30 minutes (a minimum of eight overs) extra ... if requested by either captain".
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Smith wanted to come off, having recognised his tiring quicks were unlikely to create a breakthrough. Gould, who was seen practising his golf swing as the final session dragged on and on, ruled otherwise.
"Early on in the day, I sort of said 'it's great that we have that extra half hour up our sleeve if we need it'," Smith recalled on Monday.
"Later on, Gunner Gould was pretty adamant that he wanted to sort of stay out there and try and get the game over and done with.
"We went with that. I probably at that point of time would have liked to come off and given our bowlers a rest, they'd worked incredibly hard all day and Pakistan were just starting to get onto a bit of a roll.
"But you've got to go with the umpire's call. It's their decision."
Pakistan scored 51 runs in the extra eight overs, dominating proceedings until Wahab Riaz was out edging in the final over.
Many pundits viewed the umpires' call as strange. In the previous 27 overs, Pakistan had added 111 runs for the loss of one wicket.
"We were a bit concerned but at the same time we were relaxed because when they took the extra half hour, their main bowler Mitchell Starc just finished a spell," Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said.
"I thought if we added another 40 runs it would help us the next morning and it worked out exactly for us."
Australia's bowling coach David Saker was puzzled about how it played out.
"I don't know what happened," Saker said on Sunday night.
"It was a bit frustrating ... we were quite happy to come off.
"But a lot of people wanted the game to finish today and the umpires are probably one of those."
