Khawaja hits special ton to take Aussies to 255

AHMEDABAD: Opener Usman Khawaja combined patience with grit to raise his 14th Test hundred, which guided Australia to 255 for four against India at stumps on the opening day of the fourth and final match at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Thursday.

After dominating the visiting batters for most parts of the first three matches of the series, the India spinners struggled to trouble the Australians on the Motera track that looked comparatively better for the willow wielders. Khawaja, Australia’s best batter on tour, was determination-personified throughout his six-hour stay as he struck 15 fours in his unbeaten 104-run knock (251 balls).

At stumps, the 36-year-old Khawaja had No.6 Cameron Green (49 batting off 64 balls, 8 fours) for company. The southpaw punished the India bowlers through the on-side with ease when they pitched the ball on his legs while occasionally playing the cover drive, like the one off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in the third and final session of the day.

Khawaja, who predominantly played the ball late, targeted the square-leg and mid-wicket regions when facing spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja. He brought up one of his most cherished hundreds with an on-drive off pacer Mohammed Shami and celebrated the milestone with his now-customary leap in the air.

The fact that there was no devil on the surface helped his cause as the spin troika of Ashwin (1/57), Jadeja (1/49) and Axar Patel (0/14) were ineffective.

Barring Shami’s (2/65) lethal reverse-swinging ball that castled Peter Handscomb’s (17) stumps, none of the dismissals were effected off wicket-taking deliveries.

Opening batter Travis Head (32) failed to capitalise on the good work he did in the first hour – he hit pace bowler Umesh Yadav for a flurry of boundaries – by playing an indiscreet shot.

He tried to chip Ashwin over mid-on without reaching to the pitch of the ball and offered an easy catch to Jadeja. Head had got a reprieve while batting on seven when wicketkeeper KS Bharat dropped a regulation catch off Umesh’s bowling.

No.3 Marnus Labuschagne (3) was undone by a delivery that kept low as he dragged the ball onto the stumps. Stand-in captain Steve Smith (38), in at No.4, was unlucky, with a Jadeja ball taking a thick inside edge, striking his back pad and disturbing the stumps.

Australia lost back-to-back wickets twice, but Khawaja stood like a rock at one end. He was involved in three crucial partnerships – 61 with Head for the first wicket, 79 with Smith for the third wicket and 85 with Green for the unbroken fifth wicket.

BRIEF SCORES: Australia 255/4 in 90 overs (U Khawaja 104*, C Green 49*) vs India