Australia opener Usman Khawaja once again turned Australia's saviour and scripted history with a resilient century on Day 2 of the Ashes 2023 series opener against England at Edgbaston on Saturday (June 17). Khawaja cracked his 15th Test century and his first ton on English soil. The 36-year-old also shattered a 139-year-old record as it was the first instance in these many years that a non-Australia-born opener scored a century in an away Ashes match.
When the chips were down Khawaja paired with Alex Carey and steered Australia to a commanding 311/5 at the end of Day 2's play. When the Baggy Greens were tottering at 220/5, the duo stitched together a 91-run partnership for the sixth wicket. By the end of Day's play, Khawaja was unbeaten at 126 off 279.
When Khawaja reached the magical three-figure remark, he unleashed a wild celebration that instantly caught the attention of the onlookers and went viral on social media. Khawaja roared and jumped, punched the air in delight before hurling his bat away to soak in all the applause.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen reacted to Khawaja's celebration and said that an Ashes hundred means the world to cricketers.
"Oh, you just saw that with the celebration. He wanted to show that celebration again and again because an Ashes hundred means so much to the players. You can see how much it meant to him as well," Pietersen said while speaking to Sky Sports.
Let's have a look at the list of Usman Khawaja's Test centuries in different countries:
9 hundreds in Australia.
2 hundreds in Pakistan.
1 hundred in England.
1 hundred in India.
1 hundred in New Zealand.
1 hundred in UAE.
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