Birmingham [UK], June 18 : Usman Khawaja's maiden test century in the first Test match of the Ashes was an emotional one as he remembered the time when the crowd used to troll him for not scoring in England.
Khawaja displayed an excellent show in the first innings of Australia on the 2nd day of the 1st Test match of the Ashes series. He scored 126 (279)* as Australia trailed by 82 runs, scoring 311/5.
"I genuinely do not read the media but when I'm getting sprayed (taunted) by the crowd as I'm walking out there today and as I'm going to nets being told that I can't score runs in England...I guess it was just a bit more emotional than normal," he said as quoted by Sky Sports.
The 36-year-old talked about his celebration and said that it was to show that his performance in the last 10 years was not a "fluke".
"I think it [the celebration] was a combination of having three Ashes tours in England and being dropped in two of them. Not that I have a point to prove, but it's nice to go out there and score runs for Australia and just to show everyone that the last 10 years hasn't been a fluke," he added.
"These young ones keep me young and make me realise that there's a lot to life and a lot of good stuff, inshallah, after I stop playing cricket. So, for me, it's just about enjoying it. My wife has been awesome to me, she's been my rock throughout my career," Khawaja said.
"That perspective makes it a lot easier for me to go out there and just play and try and enjoy it as much as I can, whether I get a duck or a hundred. Every Test match is a bonus for me because we thought my career was over. In my head, it's the last [Ashes] tour I'll be on, unless I pull a Jimmy Anderson and come back when I'm 41," he concluded.
Australia were on the back foot after losing the early wickets of David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith. Australia were 67/3.
However, Khawaja and Travis Head built up a partnership for the fourth wicket. After Head dismissed Australia had put 148/4 on the board.
Alex Carey played a heling knock and scored 52 (80)* whereas Khawaja clinched his maiden England test century.
Stuart Broad was the pick of the bowler for England, he took two wickets. Returning back to international test cricket, Moeen Ali also took two scalps. Captain Ben Stokes got one wicket.
England declared their first innings at 393/8 after electing to bat first. A century from Root (118* in 152 balls, with seven fours and four sixes), fifties from Jonny Bairstow (78 in 78 balls, with 12 fours) and Zak Crawley (61 in 73 balls, with seven fours) powered England to a huge score.
Nathan Lyon (4/149) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies. Josh Hazlewood picked up two wickets while Scott Boland and Cameron Green got a wicket each.
Brief Scores: Australia 311/5 (Usman Khawaja 126(279)*, Alex Carey 52(80) and Moeen Ali 2/124) vs England.
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