Usman Khawaja scored his ninth Test century after being recalled by Australia for the first time in more than two years as the hosts took control against England in the fourth Ashes Test.
Australia declared at 416-8 late in the final session on day two at the SCG, in an innings headlined by Khawaja's 137, where he batted for almost seven hours and hit 13 boundaries.
Khawaja reached his second Ashes hundred after being given a life on 28 when an edge off Jack Leach grazed Jos Buttler and was dropped by Joe Root at first slip.
England's openers survived five overs late in the day to be 13-0 at stumps, with Zak Crawley given a reprieve for a no-ball after being caught at first slip by David Warner off Mitchell Starc for a duck.
Australia, though, took a major advantage in the Sydney Test having resumed at 126-3 after a rain-interrupted opening day, with Steve Smith and Khawaja putting together a 115-run fourth-wicket stand.
Stuart Broad was the pick of the English attack, claiming the first five-wicket haul for the visitors this series with figures of 5-101.
England's hopes of making inroads into the Australian batting line-up were not helped by Ben Stokes limping off with left side tightness. He later returned to field but did not bowl.
Broad had Smith caught by Buttler for 67 shortly after taking the new ball, representing the ninth time the English paceman has dismissed the Australian vice-captain at Test level.
The headband-wearing 35-year-old paceman also claimed the wickets of Cameron Green (5), Pat Cummins (24) and Khawaja, who played on to a leg-cutter.
Starc got lucky with a series of reviews in his batting cameo with 34 not out before Australia declared, getting five overs late at the tourists who got through with Crawley and Haseeb Hameed at the crease.
Broad justifies his recall
Broad's five-wicket haul was his sixth against Australia and a 19th across his decorated career, where he has taken 531 Test dismissals.
The 35-year-old right-arm paceman had been left out for two Tests earlier in this series and justified his recall emphatically.
Khawaja stars upon return
Khawaja had not played for Australia at Test level since August 2019 in the Ashes but managed his second century against England, having earned a recall after back-to-back hundreds for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield. Khawaja reached triple figures shortly prior to tea.
Charles to replace Motie for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe
Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today announced that Johnson Charles has been named as the replacement for Gudakesh Motie in the 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament to be played in Zimbabwe, starting on Sunday 18 June.
Left-arm spinner Motie has not recovered from a lower back injury. Charles recently made a return to the West Indies ODI team for the ongoing three match ODI series against United Arab Emirates in Sharjah. He scored 63 in the second match, his 50th ODI appearance, and was named Player of the Match.
Lead Selector, The Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes said: “We want to wish Motie the best as he continues his rehabilitation. He is one of the players who we expect to feature in West Indies cricket going forward, so we want to see him recover fully so he can participate when called upon.”
Haynes added: “When we discussed the replacement player, we looked at the possibility of another spinner in the squad. However, we felt it was better to go with Charles. He is experienced at the international level, he will add value to the team for what will be a very important tournament. He also has knowledge of the Zimbabwe conditions having played ODI matches there before, so we see him as the right man for the job at this stage.”
West Indies will arrive in Harare on Saturday 10 June, where they will prepare for the 10-team tournament. They have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Zimbabwe, Nepal, Netherlands and the USA.
West Indies face the USA in the opening Group A fixture on Sunday 18 June at Takashinga Cricket Club, followed by Nepal on Thursday 22 June at Harare Sports Club. West Indies meet Zimbabwe on Saturday 24 June at Harare Sports Club. The fourth preliminary match will be against the Netherlands on Monday 26 June.
Each side will play the other teams in their group once with the top three from the groups progressing to the Super Six stage from Thursday 29 June to Friday 7 July. The teams each play three Super Six matches against the sides they did not meet in the group stage.
All points won in the groups will be carried over to the Super Six stage apart from those gained against the bottom two from each group. The final will be played at Harare Sports Club on Sunday 9 July. The two finalists will both progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
FULL SQUAD
Shai Hope (captain)
Rovman Powell (vice-captain)
Shamarh Brooks
Yannic Cariah
Keacy Carty
Roston Chase
Johnson Charles
Jason Holder
Akeal Hosein
Alzarri Joseph
Brandon King
Kyle Mayers
Keemo Paul
Nicholas Pooran
Romario Shepherd
West Indies Match Schedule
All matches start at 9am local time (3am Eastern Caribbean/2am Jamaica)
Sunday 18 June: v USA at Takashinga Cricket Club
Thursday 22 June: v Nepal at Harare Sports Club
Saturday 24 June: v West Indies at Harare Sports Club
Monday 26 June: v Netherlands at Takashinga Cricket Club
Steve Smith looking forward to seeing how England fare against Australia attack
Steve Smith invited England to try and make ‘Bazball’ pay off in the Ashes after Australia bowlers took control of the World Test Championship final against India, declaring: “they haven’t come up against us yet”.
England have spent the last year establishing themselves as the most daring red-ball team around, scoring at a frantic rate against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and notching 11 wins from 13 games under Ben Stokes’ captaincy.
One by one they have lined up to take aim at England’s ultra-attacking approach, but Stokes and company have yet to take their foot off the throttle.
Australia clearly fancy their chances of breaking the streak and Smith saw no reason to doubt his side’s attack after they put the squeeze on India on day two at the Oval.
Seamers Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green each took a wicket, as did spinner Nathan Lyon, with India closing day two on 151 for five – 318 adrift.
Asked if England’s preferred style would be a success against that bowling pack, Smith said: “I think I said it initially when ‘Bazball’ started that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. I’ve said that all along.
“I think it’d be difficult on this kind of wicket – up and down and seaming around – it’s not easy to defend, let alone come out and swing.
“They’ve obviously done well against some other attacks, but they haven’t come up against us yet. So, we’ll see.
“It’s obviously been exciting to watch. I must say I’ve enjoyed watching the way they’ve played and the way that I guess they’ve turned things around in the last 12 months or so, but it’s yeah we’ll wait and see how it comes off against us.”
Smith played a significant role of his own in putting Australia firmly in charge in London, taking his tally of Test centuries to 31. He spent just over five-and-a-half hours compiling 121, sharing a stand of 285 with the more expansive Travis Head (163).
Smith has now scored seven hundreds in English conditions, amassing 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes at a staggering average of 110.57.
“It was nice to spend a lot of time out there against some good bowlers on a challenging wicket after getting sent in. I’ll take a lot of confidence out of that and hopefully can keep building and have a successful summer here,” he said.
“I think in terms of English wickets it’s probably as close to Australia as you get. I’ve enjoyed playing here and it was nice to score a few out here again.”
Australia in complete control over India in World Test Championship
India were scrapping to stay afloat in the World Test Championship final after a top-order collapse left Australia in the driving seat on day two of the World Test Championship final.
Australia were all out for 469 in their first innings, Steve Smith following in the footsteps of first-day centurion Travis Head to post 121, and then snapped up key wickets to establish a dominant position.
Each of their seam quartet struck as India lurched to 71 for four in the 19th over, before spinner Nathan Lyon joined the party and ended a battling fifth-wicket stand.
Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja doubled the score before the latter nicked Lyon to slip for 48. By stumps India were 318 behind on 151 for five, with plenty of work to do retain a realistic chance of succeeding New Zealand as red-ball world champions.
Australia arrived in the morning already boasting a healthy position on 327 for three. At that stage, they were surely hoping to clear 500, but India landed a few handy blows of their own as they took the last seven wickets for 108.
With 10 overs before lunch to work their magic, the Australian seamers made short work of the India openers. Captain Pat Cummins made the initial opening, thumping his opposite number Rohit Sharma halfway up the front pad with one that shaped in towards middle and off.
Scott Boland then joined the fray, seaming one in sharply and rearranging Shubman Gill’s stumps as he paid the price for a poorly-judged leave.
Boland filled his boots against England Down Under in 2021/22, taking a remarkable six for seven on debut at the MCG, and he made a compelling case for holding his spot at Edgbaston next week with 11 high-quality overs with the Dukes ball.
India survived a potential gut punch when star batter Virat Kohli came close to departing for a duck, withdrawing the bat only to see an inside edge spray off the toe and zip past his stumps, but their struggles continued after the break.
Cheteshwar Pujara belied his years of experience in English climes by repeating Gill’s error, shaping to leave all-rounder Cameron Green and paying the price with his off-stump. Kohli’s exit left India in strife but he was at least guilty only of receiving a brutish delivery from Mitchell Starc.
The left-armer was expensive, shipping 52 from nine overs, but showed off his ability to deliver big moments when he got one to explode off a length at Kohli and rap the thumb of his bottom hand as it sprayed to slip.
India’s position left a lot to be desired but, with Australians sensing blood Rahane’s perseverance and Jadeja’s counter-attacking nature served them well. They put on 71 together, parted only when Lyon offered a change of pace. He forced Jadeja into an unusually defensive stroke and clipped the outside edge to break the stand.
Smith had earlier brought up his 31st Test century, his seventh in England and his third at the Oval. Resuming on 95, he dispatched his first two balls of the morning from Mohammed Siraj to the boundary to reach three figures with minimal fuss.
India made regular inroads to keep the game moving forwards, Head departing for a classy 163 as Siraj got him brushing to the keeper with a bumper aimed at the ribs and Smith ending a five-and-a-half hour stay with an uncharacteristically loose prod that canoned into his stumps.
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