Ashes: Khawaja leads Australian fightback on day two
Usman Khawaja ended his decade-long wait for a maiden Test hundred in England as he led an Australia recovery in the Ashes opener at Edgbaston on Saturday. Australia were struggling at 67-3 after Stuart Broad struck twice in two balls to remove David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne before England captain Ben Stokes captured the prize wicket of star batsman Steve Smith. But they had recovered to 311-5 at stumps on the second day of this five-match series, with opening batsman Khawaja 126 not out and Alex Carey, dropped by opposing wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, unbeaten on 52 in an unbroken stand of 91. That still left Australia 82 runs behind England's first-innings 393-8 declared built on Joe Root's 118 not out. Australia captain Pat Cummins insisted Thursday his recently-crowned World Test champions had no need to emulate England's ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' style batting, saying: "Somewhere our batters might take 200 balls to get a hundred and that's totally fine." His words were underlined by Khawaja's 199-ball hundred – his 15th in Tests but seventh in 18 matches since he was recalled last year. Khawaja completed his century with a late-cut four off Stokes with the often understated left-hander throwing his bat in sheer joy. "I honestly don't know," Khawaja told reporters when asked about his celebration. "It was the culmination of three Ashes tours in England and getting dropped in two of them. "I don't read the media but when I'm being sprayed (barracked) by the crowd out there, and as I'm going to the nets, that I can't score runs in England, I guess it was a bit more emotional than normal." Khawaja, who has batted in several different berths, now averages a colossal 68.72 as an opener – the highest by anyone in to have batted in a minimum 20 Test innings in the position. He added: "Not that I have a point to prove but it's nice to go out and score runs for Australia and show to everyone that the last ten years hasn't been a fluke." Khawaja's obdurate stay appeared to have ended when Broad bowled him for 112 in the first over with the new ball but replays revealed the veteran seamer had overstepped the crease for a marginal no-ball. (AFP)