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Led by an unbeaten innings of 91 from Usman Khawaja, Australia finished Day 2 in a strong position as England’s desperate search for wickets continues. Join The Roar for live scores from 10:30am (AEDT).
Beginning the day at 233/5, despite dismissing Dawid Malan early – courtesy of a stunning catch from Australian captain Steve Smith – the home side squandered an opportunity to clean up the England tail.
Taking advantage of two woeful dropped catches and predictable bowling, the tail wagged courtesy of Tom Curran and Stuart Broad, with the visitors adding 95 crucial runs from their last four wickets.
The tourists had the momentum after Broad had Cam Bancroft clean bowled for a duck, but a solid 85-run partnership between David Warner and Usman Khawaja steadied the Australians.
As whispers started to surface regarding Khawaja’s place in the Test team, the talented Queensland captain set about quashing the doubters, ending the day just 9 runs away from his 6th century and his first since November 2016.
Khawaja played positively, using his feet to disrupt the lengths of the spinners, targeting Moeen Ali in particular striking 8 boundaries – including one six – of the embattled all-rounder.
Despite little assistance from the pitch, a clever off-cutter from Jimmy Anderson was too good for David Warner, dismissing the Australian vice-captain shortly after he had brought up his third half-century of the series.
But there was little reprieve for the visitors as Steve Smith looked as invincible as ever, continuing his assault on England and the history books – becoming the second quickest batsman after Bradman to reach 6000 Test runs.
Trailing by 153 runs and still with eight wickets in hand the hosts are in a strong position entering Day 3.
With both Khawaja and Smith set at the crease and looking likely to reach triple figures England’s bowlers could be in for a long day in the field if they do not strike early.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Day 2 from 10:30am (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
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