Usman lifts while Smith powers on
USMAN Khawaja is on the verge of a confidence-boosting century and Steve Smith on the cusp of Ashes immortality as a historic day of Test cricket beckons at the SCG.
The first item on the milestone agenda will be Khawaja ticking off the nine runs he needs to score a brilliant maiden hundred in his home town Sydney, the ground where he made his muchvaunted debut against England seven years ago.
Khawaja’s (91 not out) knock has put Australia in prime position to finish the summer in a blaze of glory and at the same time he has cemented himself as the side’s No.3 at a crucial time in the lead-up to a heavy-duty tour of South Africa.
However, undoubtedly the main event today will be Smith’s push to walk in the shoes of Sir Donald Bradman.
Resuming on 44 not out, Smith has his eye on a fourth hundred for the Ashes series – an extraordinary achievement of personal dominance that only Bradman and First World War Englishmen Wally Hammond and Herbert Sutcliffe have managed.
Australia are 153 runs behind on the first innings but cruising at 2-193, after Khawaja and Smith put on a hundred-run stand that made up for a sloppy morning in the field that allowed England to
a total of 346. Records come and go in cricket – take Smith’s second fastest to 6000 Test runs mantle achieved for example – but joining Bradman as an Ashes juggernaut is one that would stand the test of time.
“It’s crazy. He prepares the way that most other guys do.
They sit down there and get their gear on watching the game, but he just goes out there and looks from ball one like he’s been batting for three hours already,” said Pat Cummins, who took four wickets in his SCG debut.
“There’s no obvious weakness (in his game).”