Usman Khawaja struck a patient unbeaten century (126 not out) while Travis Head (50) and Alex Corey (52 not out) continued their superb form from the World Test Championship final by scoring vital half-centuries as Australia reached 311/5 against England at stumps on the second day of the opening Test of the Ashes 2023 series here on Saturday.
Having survived a tricky period on the first evening after England surprised everyone by declaring their innings at 393/8, Australia came out hoping to take advantage of the situation at Edgbaston here.
But they lost early wickets as David Warner fell victim to Stuart Broad for the 15th time in their career and Marnus Labuschagne failed to trouble the scorer and Steve Smith could manage only 16, Khawaja and Travis Head rescued Australia from a precarious 67/3.
Khawaja shared three crucial partnerships, 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Head (50 off 53 balls, 8×4, 1×6), 72 for the fifth wicket with Cameron Green (38) and an unfinished stand of 91 with Carey (52 not out) as they ended the day at 311/5, still 82 runs adrift of England’s first innings score and in a great position to take the lead.
He completed his century off 199 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and two sixes. His almost blemish-free 126 carried Australia to a position where they have five wickets in hand and just 82 runs to overtake the hosts. They could have been in a worse situation and have to thank Khawaja, Head and Carey besides their lucky stars for the position they find themselves in.
England can only blame themselves for not getting into a more formidable position having squandered several chances to pin their rivals to the canvas during the day’s second half. While keeper Jonny Bairstow muffed a stumping off Cameron Green (before he had even scored) and dropped a catch from Alex Carey (on 26), their costliest miss was the reprieve offered to Khawaja in the final hour.
Stuart Broad claimed 2-49 riding on the early strikes while Moeen Ali, brought out of retirement as a last-minute replacement, could manage only 2-129 off 29 overs.
Brief scores:
England 393/8d lead Australia 311/5 in 94 overs (Usman Khawaja 126 not out, Travis Head 50, Alex Carey 52 not out; Stuart Broad 2-49, Moeen Ali 2-129) by 82 runs.
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