Usman Khawaja scored a classy century to put Australia on top as England toiled on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney.
Khawaja, playing his first Test since 2019,recalled to replace TRAVIS Head stroked a well-crafted 137 as Australia declared on 416-8 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
The 35-year-old left-hander received good support from Steve Smith with 67 and Mitchell Starc, who made an unbeaten 34.
Stuart Broad claimed a fine 5-101, including bowling Khawaja late in the day, but Australia held on to make England face a tricky 20 minutes with the bat. Zak Crawley was caught in the slips off a Starc no-ball in the penultimate over before England closed on 13-0. There were familiar problems for England, with Joe Root dropping Khawaja on 28 off Jack Leach, who again struggled for rhythm.
Ben Stokes also pulled up with a side injury midway through an over in the morning session and did not bowl for the rest of the day, despite returning to field. England are facing a tough task on a pitch that has begun to show variable bounce and with a batting line-up that is yet to pass 300 in the series.
as given a standing ovation by the crowd and his young family as he reached his ninth Test century, with Khawaja imitating basketball great LeBron James’ Silencer celebration to the delight of the fans.
It was a mixed day for England, with the bowlers finding ways to trouble the batters before fatigue and errors crept in.
