Usman Khawaja Breaks Decade-Long Wait with Maiden Test Hundred in England

In the Ashes opener at Edgbaston on Saturday, Usman Khawaja ended his ten-year wait for a maiden Test century in England, leading Australia’s recovery. After Stuart Broad dismissed David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in successive balls, followed by Ben Stokes capturing the wicket of star batsman Steve Smith, Australia found themselves struggling at 67/3.

However, they made a strong comeback, reaching 311/5 by stumps on the second day of the five-match series. Opening batsman Khawaja remained unbeaten on 126, while wicket-keeper Alex Carey provided solid support with an undefeated 52, forming an unbroken partnership of 91 runs.

Despite their recovery, Australia still trailed by 82 runs, as England had declared their first innings at 393/8, anchored by Joe Root’s unbeaten 118.

Ahead of the match, Australia captain Pat Cummins had emphasized that his team did not need to adopt England’s aggressive batting style, known as “Bazball.” He stated that it was perfectly acceptable for their batsmen to take their time and play patiently to reach a hundred, even if it required facing 200 balls.

Khawaja’s innings exemplified this approach as he reached his century in 199 balls, his 15th in Test matches and seventh in the last 18 matches since his recall last year. He sealed his hundred with a well-executed late-cut boundary off Stokes.

In a moment of suspense, Khawaja’s resilient innings seemed to come to an end when Broad bowled him for 112 in the first over with the new ball. However, replays revealed that Broad had overstepped the crease, resulting in a marginal no-ball, and Khawaja was given a reprieve.

Broad had earlier dismissed Warner for the eighth time in Ashes matches, having troubled him throughout the 2019 series. Warner, on nine, chased a wide delivery from Broad, inside-edging it onto his stumps.

The crowd erupted when Labuschagne, the top-ranked Test batsman globally, fell for a golden duck, edging a Broad outswinger that was superbly caught by diving wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow.

Smith managed to avoid a hat-trick but struggled during his brief innings of 16, failing to hit a single boundary. Stokes, despite concerns about his bowling fitness due to a longstanding knee injury, trapped Smith lbw with a ball that nipped back.

As the ball grew older and batting conditions improved, Khawaja and Travis Head thwarted England’s progress with an 81-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Both left-handers took on Moeen Ali, hitting the recalled off-spinner for sixes on his home ground in Birmingham.

Stokes persisted with Moeen, who was playing his first Test in nearly two years after a hiatus from red-ball cricket. The persistence paid off when Head, fresh from a century in Australia’s World Test Championship final victory over India, was dismissed for a brisk 50 off 63 balls, dragging a drive off Moeen to Zak Crawley at midwicket.

At 148/4, Australia had a scare when Cameron Green charged down the wicket on his second ball but missed a stumping opportunity that Bairstow couldn’t capitalize on. Green was eventually bowled by Moeen for 38, but not before he had put on a crucial 72-run partnership with Khawaja.

Bairstow, who scored a quick-fire 78 on Friday, also dropped Alex Carey, then on 26 off occasional spinner Root. Despite the availability of a potentially better wicket-