Usman Khawaja’s maiden Test century on Indian soil got Australia off to a solid start in the fourth and final Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. Khawaja's unbeaten 104 and contributions from skipper Steve Smith and all-rounder Cameron Green helped Australia post a decent score of 255/4 on the board on the best of four pitches in the series. It will be safe to say that the Ahmedabad Test is not ending within three days.
Costly drop
Earlier, Smith won the crucial toss and opted to bat first. On a pitch that did not offer much assistance to the bowlers early on, wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat dropped a regulation catch off Umesh Yadav's bowling in the sixth over. Travis Head was batting on seven runs then.
Crucial wickets
Close to the hour-mark, Head decided to take on Yadav and hit him for a couple of boundaries. He hit him for three more boundaries in the next over as Australia crossed the 50-run mark in the 13th over. Ravichandran Ashwin provided the breakthrough. Head danced down the track but miscued it into safe hands of Ravindra Jadeja at mid-on. He scored 32 runs including seven fours.
Khawaja played the waiting game and pounced on opportunities to score. After an economical first spell, Mohammed Shami came back into the attack. He bowled a back of the length delivery at stumps which kept low and cleaned by Marnus Labuschagne (3). After the first session, Australia were 75/2.
Dull second session
Smith was overly defensive approach in the second session blocking deliveries from the Indian spin trio. Khawaja got to his half-century with a boundary off Shami in the 49th over. After the second session, Australia were 149/2 as no chances were created by Indian bowlers.
Jadeja, Shami strike
After the tea break, Jadeja was handed the ball and he delivered the wicket of Smith. The Aussie skipper inside-edged the ball to his stumps and threw away the hard work of playing himself in. He scored 38 runs from 135 deliveries in the 69-run partnership for the third wicket. Peter Handscomb hit a few boundaries off Yadav. Shami was brought back into the attack once again and he bowled the perfect length delivery to send the off-stump cartwheeling. Handscomb scored 17 runs from 27 balls.
Khawaja-Green show
Meanwhile, Khawaja capitalised on scoring opportunities and scored slightly quickly in the third session. Cameron Green did not make any mistakes and kept Indian bowlers at bay with the old ball. Sharma did not opt for the new ball right away and waited for one more over from Axar Patel. Ashwin-Jadeja could not trouble them either. The new ball came nicely on Green's bat. He scored 12 runs off Yadav's first over with second new ball including two boundaries. Shami got a similar treatment as well.
Khawaja breaches three figures
In the last over of the day, Khawaja got to his century with a boundary. He became the first Australian opener to score a Test century in India after Shane Watson's 126 at Mohali in October 2010. The Pakistan-origin batter also remained unbeaten for 104 off 251 deliveries including 15 fours. On the other end, Green is just one run away from his half-century. He has hit eight fours in his innings already. Khawaja and Green took Australia’s score to 255/4 at the end of Day 1.
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