SYDNEY: Usman Khawaja celebrated his recall to the Test arena after two years in the wilderness with a stylish 137 to drive Australia to a declaration on 416 for eight shortly before the close of play on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on Thursday.

Seamer Stuart Broad took 5-101 in England’s cause and openers Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed, both two not out, survived five torrid overs before stumps to give the tourists a small morale boost after another day of Australian dominance.

England, who will resume with 13 runs on the board, are desperate for a good showing in Sydney after suffering heavy defeats in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne to go 3-0 down in the five-match series.

The main obstruction at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday was Khawaja, who was brought into the Australia side for Travis Head after the middle order batsman tested positive for Covid-19.

Clearly relishing his latest comeback at the ground where his Test career began in the 2011 Ashes test, the 35-year-old was stylish and unflappable in equal parts as he put England to the sword.

He survived a scare on 28 when he got an edge on a delivery from England spinner Jack Leach but the ball evaded wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and Joe Root was unable to hold the catch at first slip.

The lefthander made the most of his reprieve, picking the moments to deploy his elegant strokes and bringing up his ninth test century with three runs through square leg just before the tea break.

His celebration was anything but elegant, however, as he treated the applauding 24,855 crowd to a rendition of the “Silencer” moves made famous by NBA star Lebron James.

“The SCG, honestly, it was probably the most touching, humbling, amazing feeling out there today getting that hundred, I never expected it ... the love I’ve got out there today, I’ll never forget,” said Khawaja.

“It’s my home ground here, the people still treat me like a local boy. It’s stuff you dream of. It’s special scoring my first Test hundred as a father. I was trying to look for my wife and daughter in the stands.

“I’ve broken down a lot of barriers to get to where I’ve got to now and I think people respect that. I’ve put a lot of hard work in. A lot of time behind the scenes that people don’t see. You never take anything for granted.

“I was never sure I was going to represent Australia again, never mind scoring a hundred. I’m very grateful for another opportunity. Every time I play for Australia is special. The only thing to make it better will be to get a victory, and that’s the next thing to go for.”

Four years to the day since he hit 171 in the last Ashes test at the SCG, Khawaja looked to be heading for a similar score when he played on to give Broad England’s first five-wicket haul of the series.

Khawaja, who hit 13 fours in his 260 ball innings, had combined with Steve Smith in a 115-run fourth wicket partnership that frustrated England’s hopes of making early inroads into the Australian batting.

Broad, who was left out of the side for the Brisbane and Melbourne Tests, finally separated them when Smith edged the ball behind on 67 after lunch and then quickly dispatched all-rounder Cameron Green for five.

It was not until the hour before tea, however, that Alex Carey departed for 13, holing out in the deep off England captain Root’s spin.

Broad returned after the break to remove Pat Cummins for 24 with a fizzing delivery that the Australia skipper gloved behind.

Nathan Lyon smoked Broad for six over mid-wicket to prompt captain Cummins to end the innings and give Australia’s pace attack five overs at the weary Englishmen, who had toiled for 134 overs in the field.

Mitchell Starc was 34 not out at the declaration, then England just about survived unscathed to the close.

But Crawley enjoyed a massive reprieve before he had scored when he was caught by David Warner at slip, only for Starc to be no-balled for over-stepping.

“Any time you manage to get 400 you probably own that innings, but on the other side of that I thought our bowlers ran in really well,” said Broad. “We kept fighting and Test cricket is about showing heart and character and I don’t think we can doubt any of that today.

“I was disappointed to miss out at Brisbane and Melbourne on pitches that any wobble-seam bowler would have been pretty excited about. But when you do miss out your mentality has to be about get yourself ready for the next opportunity, and I really feel like I did that. Pleased to have had an impact, would have preferred it to be five for 30 not five for 100, there’s no doubting it was Australia’s day.”—

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA (1st innings; overnight 126-3):

D. Warner c Crawley b Broad 30

M. Harris c Root b Anderson 38

M. Labuschagne c Buttler b Wood 28

S. Smith c Buttler b Broad 67

U. Khawaja b Broad 137

C. Green c Crawley b Broad 5

A. Carey c Bairstow b Root 13

P. Cummins c Buttler b Broad 24

M. Starc not out 34

N. Lyon not out 16

EXTRAS (LB-8, NB-4, W-12) 24

TOTAL (for eight wkts declared, 134 overs) 416

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-51 (Warner), 2-111 (Harris), 3-117 (Labuschagne), 4-232 (Smith), 5-242 (Green), 6-285 (Carey), 7-331 (Cummins), 8-398 (Khawaja).

BOWLING: Anderson 30-9-54-1, Broad 29-5-101-5 (1nb), Stokes 13.5-3-37-0 (2w, 3nb), Wood 26.1-6-76-1 (2w), Leach 24-2-89-0, Malan 3-0-15-0, Root 8-0-36-1.

ENGLAND (1st innings):

H. Hameed not out 2

Z. Crawley not out 2

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (for no loss, five overs) 13

TO BAT: D. Malan, J. Root, B. Stokes, J. Bairstow, J. Buttler, M. Wood, J. Leach, S. Broad, J. Anderson.

BOWLING: Cummins 3-2-1-0, Starc 2-0-4-0 (1nb).

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022