Usman Khawaja playing his first Test since being axed during the 2019 Ashes, made a comeback in style as he reached his ninth Test century to help Australia seize control in the fourth Ashes at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Batting first, Khawaja's 137-run knock off 260 deliveries helped Australia post 416/8 and declare their first innings.
Khawaja resumed Day 2 on four, after Australia slipped to 117/3 on a stop-start opening day of the fourth Test. The left-handed batter weathered through the tough phases to settle into the innings. The 35-year-old had scored heavy runs in the Sheffield Shield since being dropped from the side and made the most of the opportunity when the opportunity presented itself. The Queenslander had also made his Test debut on the very same ground and against the very same opponent way back in 2011.
After seeing off the second new ball, Khawaja never looked back. The southpaw stitched a 115-run stand with Steve Smith (67), who was later dismissed by Stuart Broad. The 35-year-old was earlier dropped by Joe root on 28. Broad finished with figures of 5/101. Alongside Khawaja, Pat Cummins (24) and Mitchell Starc (34) chipped in, helping Australia to propel to a good first innings score.
The English openers Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed who were resilient enough to see off the opening burst from the Aussie quicks, will have tough task of setting a good platform for their team on Day 3. In five overs in third session, England managed to score 13 runs. The SCG pitch is expected to start assisting spin from Day 3 onwards. This would mean after negotiating with the Australian seamers, the three lions would still have face veteran Nathan Lyon's off-spin.
England are 3-0 down in the ongoing Ashes already and another whitewash is on the cards if the English batters fail to start well on Day 3. A lot depends on Root as he has been the only batter in form for England this summer.
