4th Test, Day 2: Khawaja touches 150, Green on verge of first Test century as Australia reach 347/4

Ahmedabad: Left-handed opener Usman Khawaja touched 150 while Cameron Green continues to impress to be on the verge of his first Test century as Australia reached 347/4 against India in the morning session on Day Two of the fourth and final Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

Khawaja and Green, unbeaten on 150 and 95 respectively, solidified their positions at the crease to fetch another wicketless session for Australia in this Test, adding 92 in 29 overs and their partnership for the fifth wicket standing at 177.

For India, it was a session of toil under harsh Friday sun on a nice batting pitch, where their control with the ball was off the mark.

The session began with Green reaching his half-century off just 67 balls with a single through long-off against Ravindra Jadeja. There was some uneven bounce when Mohammed Shami was introduced in the attack from the third over of the day, but that wasn’t enough to separate Khawaja and Green.

Green was crisp in his timing when he slashed a short ball from Ravichandran Ashwin off backfoot through the off-side. An erring Umesh Yadav provided the release to Australia when Khawaja whipped twice through the square leg for boundaries.

Umesh continued to leak runs, as Khawaja slashed him through slip before Green brought out a drive on the up through the gap at extra cover for another boundary. Green feasted more on Umesh’s wayward bowling, driving thrice in the arc between straight down the ground and extra cover.

Khawaja’s focus and determination to bat on got him to reach 150 before lunch, through a pulled four off Shami, before Green nailed the pull and got an outside edge wide of slip to collect a brace of boundaries off the fast bowler to keep Australia in the driver’s seat.

Brief scores: Australia 347/4 in 119 overs (Usman Khawaja 150 not out, Cameron Green 94 not out; Mohammed Shami 2-84, Ravindra Jadeja 1-61) against India

–IANS