Ahmedabad : A scintillating unbeaten century from Usman Khawaja helped Australia finish day one of fourth Test on a commanding 255/4 against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.
After Australia elected to bat first on a nice batting pitch, Khawaja kept his calm, played late and with soft hands to hit 15 fours in his 251-ball stay for 104 not out at the crease to notch up Australia’s first century of the ongoing tour, which came on the last over before stumps.
He had useful partnerships of 61, 79 and 85 with Travis Head, Steve Smith and Cameron Green, who remained unbeaten on 49 off 64 balls at stumps, and helped Australia get a slight upper hand in the match through his feasting on the second new ball.
The pitch at Ahmedabad was in complete contrast to surfaces in the first three Tests:- offering little assistance for India’s bowlers, though they did pick four wickets. They had to then resort to control and even short-ball barrage to keep Australia in check, which didn’t happen thanks to Khawaja’s critical hundred and Green’s late onslaught against second new ball.
As a southpaw, neither does Khawaja have the panache of someone like a David Warner nor the brute power of a Matthew Hayden, who was capable of executing slog sweeps fetching deliveries from wide outside the off-stump.
His game maybe pretty low on aesthetics but is highly impactful as he came across as a batter, who wouldn't try anything which is outside his comfort zone.
Anything pitched on his legs was punished through the leg-side while the occasional cover drive would come out of the closet, like one off Jadeja in the final session.
Otherwise, it was just playing the ball late and rocking on the backfoot, while whipping Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja through the square leg or midwicket region.
It was only fitting that an on-drive off Mohammed Shami (2/65), brought up what would be one of his most cherished Test hundreds that he celebrated with his now-customary leap in the air.
It did help that there was no devil on the Motera track and with no significant help on offer, India's spin troika of Ashwin (1/57), Jadeja (1/49) and Axar Patel weren't as effective compared to first three games. Agencies
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