Khawaja’s ton of redemption a true scene stealer
They came to see Steve Smith follow in the footsteps of Don Bradman, but instead it was Usman Khawaja who turned the SCG into his field of dreams as Australia grabbed total control of the fifth Ashes cricket test.
England find themselves in a familiar position after the third day but this time it’s not the feats of the Australian captain that have them under the pump.
Smith missed out on what would have been a landmark century but they were instead put to the sword by Khawaja then the Marsh brothers.
This was a day to remember for the Sydney-raised Khawaja, who marked his maiden Ashes century with an emotional celebration then, along with Shaun Marsh, proceeded to grind English noses into the bone-dry SCG pitch. The older Marsh brother is just two runs shy of his sixth test ton, and second of the series.
As it has come in a dead rubber, it would be hard to compare Khawaja’s epic 171 in quality and significance to any of Smith’s series-defining contributions though it matched his captain for concentration.
England needed more than 81⁄2 hours to dislodge Australia’s firstchoice No 3 – at home anyway.
Khawaja’s troubles abroad have come mainly in the spin-friendly conditions of the subcontinent though he should find the pitches in South Africa not dissimilar to those of home.
His century here, his first since his day/night masterclass in Adelaide last season, will give him extra spring in his step when he lands in South Africa.
‘‘He’s always been a very good player. I think he’s got so much time. I’m just really pleased for him to get a big hundred out here,’’ Smith said.
Although Joe Root’s men are to be commended for not dropping their bundle like their predecessors four years ago, their mettle will be sternly tested today with temperatures expected to soar into the high 30s.
With six wickets still in hand, Australia will be looking to inflict hours more pain on an attack featuring a debutant, a second gamer and an out-of-sorts Moeen Ali.
The hosts’ goal will be to bank as many runs as they can on the fourth day to avoid having to bat a second time then roll through an England line-up on a pitch that has started to play tricks.
Australia reached 479-4 at stumps on the third day, a lead of 133. If that advantage stretches beyond 200, England will have extra reason to count down the minutes to boarding time on the QF1 back to London.
One man already feeling the pinch is Mason Crane, who has been roundly mocked by the large SCG crowds for his inability to nail his approach to the crease.
He, and England, paid a heavy price on the stroke of lunch when a no-ball, by a matter of millimetres, cost him the wicket of Khawaja on 132. That would have left Australia with two new batsmen at the crease while still 70 runs behind.
The leggie eventually claimed Khawaja for his maiden test victim but the damage had well and truly been done. Khawaja and Shaun Marsh had added 101 for the fifth wicket to take their side into the lead.
There was more pain to come when the Marsh boys united. Mitchell had several narrow escapes against Crane but after taking 19 balls to get off the mark the runs flowed freely.
The all-rounder was particularly vicious on Ali’s off-spin, crunching 16 off one over, and drove confidently against the quicks.
Marsh had a leg before wicket verdict against him overturned on 55 when the video umpire, somewhat contentiously, judged him to have hit the ball first. The ball tracker, however, had the delivery clearly wide of leg stump.