Picture Credit: Twitter
Usman Khawaja, the veteran Australian opener, scored his first Test hundred in England during the opening match of the Ashes series on June 17, Saturday. The 36-year-old cricketer achieved this feat after smashing the English captain Ben Stokes behind point for a boundary in the post-tea session on day 2.
After seeing Usman Khawaja dominate their bowlers yesterday, the England team management equipped the players with new tactics to dismiss the Aussie batter. They utilised an unconventional field setup with six fielders placed in the front-of-the-wicket, including three each on both off and leg side in the morning session of day 3, to change the mindset of the 36-year-old.
The umbrella field setting prompted the Queensland based cricketer to charge the bowler Ollie Robinson, who delivered an inch perfect yorker to hit the stumps. With that, the marathon batting innings for Usman Khawaja, lasting for 478 minutes, ended, in an anticlimactic fashion. Before his unfortunate dismissal, he scored 141 runs in 321 deliveries, including 14 fours and three maximums.
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Notably, the century from Usman Khawaja was a catalyst for Australia in getting within seven runs of England’s first innings score. In response to 393/8 dec from the English, the team from Down Under were bowled out for 386. Alex Carey and Travis Head also scored quickfire fifties to help the cause with the bat for the Australian team.
During the second session of day 3, in the second innings for England, the play was halted multiple times due to rain. As of this writing, the home side are 28/2, with both openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett dismissed in quick succession.
