Usman Khawaja hits century during weather-interrupted fourth Ashes Test as Australia continue to build on their impressive form

Usman Khawaja’s ninth Test century on his first international appearance since 2019 helped Australia post 416-8 after two days of play at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Reintroduced into the team following news that Travis Head had to undertake a period of self-isolation, Khawaja repaid the faith placed in him and scored 137 runs from 260 deliveries.

The 35-year-old began day two well-settled at the crease alongside Steve Smith (67) and put on a 115-run partnership for the fourth wicket with the Australian vice-captain.

Khawaja’s innings was an accomplished one, combining effective attacking shots, a reverse-sweep off the bowling of Jack Leach comes to mind, with a solid defensive base.

Although the Somerset seamer can count himself unlucky not to have dismissed Khawaja for 28. His delivery found the outside edge and flicked off the leg of Jos Buttler, only for skipper Joe Root to put down the chance at slip.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat first, Pat Cummins’ side had given themselves a stable platform to build from on day one, in spite of lengthy breaks in play caused by rain, finishing at 126-3.

Prior to that, evergreen duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson both produced impressive deliveries to claim the wickets of David Warner (30) and Marcus Harris (38) respectively, the former on his way to claiming an eighth Ashes five-for.

Root may have also found a possible weakness in the game of Marnus Labuschagne (33) too. The ICC number one ranked Test batsman has now been dismissed twice in consecutive innings by Mark Wood, perhaps struggling against raw pace.

Broad would later see off Cameron Green (4) and Cummins (24), with the decision of leaving him out of the side in Brisbane especially, a continually confusing one. If there is one thing that we have learned from Broad’s successful career for England, it is that you write him off at your peril.

Yet, the tourists struggled to wrap up the Aussie tail with Mitchell Starc (34) and Nathan Lyon (16) putting on 67 for the final wicket, allowing Cummins to declare and squeeze in five overs against a nervy England top-order.

Zak Crawley will be hoping that his 2022 cannot be any worse than the previous calendar year where he averaged 10.80, though, he was fortunate not to have been out after edging into the slips.

Warner’s celebrations were humorously followed by confirmation that Starc had overstepped the front line and bowled a no-ball, providing England supporters with a rare moment of joy

Crawley and Haseeb Hameed managed to survive the new ball and posted a score of 13-0 at the close of play, remarkably, their team’s second-highest opening partnership in this series, which says everything about how the tour has played out.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt