Birmingham: Opener Usman Khawaja hit his seventh Test century since being recalled by Australia to lead a solid effort on day two of the first Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston.
Khawaja’s brilliant unbeaten 126, his 15th career century but his first in Tests in England, and his vital partnerships with Travis Head (50) and Alex Carey (52 not out) helped Australia finish the day on 311/5, trailing by 82 with five wickets remaining.
Khawaja’s record since returning in the Sydney Test against the same opponents back in January of 2022 has been phenomenal.
The left-hander has hit tons in India and Pakistan in that time, as well as reaching triple figures at home against South Africa and England. But his record in English conditions had been poor before this outstanding knock in Birmingham.
Khawaja has now scored 1747 runs in the 31 innings since his return to the Australian fold, averaging an extraordinary 69.88 in that time.
And an emotional reaction from Khawaja upon reaching his landmark spoke to how significant this moment is for the 36-year-old.
Australia had resumed on 14/0 after England declared on the first day – the second time England have made such an unusual move in 2023 under Ben Stokes’ captaincy. And a slow opening half hour was soon blown up by a Stuart Broad double strike.
A wafted drive with limited footwork from David Warner saw him inside edge the ball onto his stumps, and Labuschagne fell victim to Broad’s recently-honed outswinger the very next ball, with Jonny Bairstow holding on to a good catch.
An attempted leg-side trap to Steve Smith on the hat-trick ball didn’t pay off, and Smith and Khawaja steadily ate through the morning session with a partnership of 38 across 16.4 overs before Stokes had the key man trapped lbw for a 59-ball 16.
Australia went in at lunch 78/3, still 315 runs behind, with England having used seven bowlers in the first session – including experimental single-over spells from part-timers Harry Brook and Joe Root.
Khawaja shared three crucial partnerships, 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Head (50 off 63 balls, 8×4, 1×6), 72 for the fifth wicket with Cameron Green (38) and an unfinished stand of 91 with Carey (52 not out) as they ended the day at 311/5, still 82 runs adrift of England’s first innings score and in a great position to take the lead.
Head was very severe on Moeen Ali as he and Khawaja completed their fifties in the post-lunch session. But Stokes stuck by his plan of keeping the field up to Moeen, and he reaped rewards for that faith when Head tried one shot too many and fell to the returning spinner for a 63-ball 50.
And the 35-year-old Moeen could have had a second wicket in the same over when a beautifully-flighted delivery spun past the charging Cameron Green only for Bairstow to miss the stumping opportunity.
Khawaja completed his century off 199 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and two sixes. His almost blemish-free 126 carried Australia to a position where they have five wickets in hand and just 82 runs to overtake the hosts. They could have been in a worse situation and have to thank Khawaja, Head and Carey besides their lucky stars for the position they find themselves in.
England can only blame themselves for not getting into a more formidable position having squandered several chances to pin their rivals to the canvas during the day’s second half. While keeper Jonny Bairstow muffed a stumping off Cameron Green (before he had even scored) and dropped a catch from Alex Carey (on 26), their costliest miss was the reprieve offered to Khawaja in the final hour.
Stuart Broad claimed 2-49 riding on the early strikes while Moeen Ali, brought out of retirement as a last-minute replacement, claimed 2-124 off 29 overs.
Brief scores:
England 393/8d lead Australia 311/5 in 94 overs (Usman Khawaja 126 not out, Travis Head 50, Alex Carey 52 not out; Stuart Broad 2-49, Moeen Ali 2-124) by 82 runs.
–IANS