Usman Khawaja bat-throw celebration catches everyone’s attention
Usman Khawaja roared loudly as he saw the ball racing towards the boundary, jumped in the air and threw away his bat in the air, mouthing some words out of excitement
Usman Khawaja on Saturday added another feather to his Test cap, scoring the first hundred Test hundred on English soil. In response to Australia’s 393, the left-hander carried the Australian innings on his shoulder and notched up his 15th century in the longest format of the game. But his celebration was something that stunned the Englishmen more.
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It was the 69th over when Khawaja steered a back-of-a-length delivery from England captain Joe Root towards third man boundary to complete his ton. He roared loudly as he saw the ball racing towards the boundary, jumped in the air and threw away his bat in the air, mouthing some words out of excitement. He then took off his helmet and raised both his hands while facing the Australian dressing room.
“The celebrations tell you everything. 15th Test hundred, first in England. What a couple of years he is having in Test cricket. You can see what that hundred means to him,” said former England captain Nasser Hussain on air.
“Brilliant innings. Well played and well deserved. He’s right there at the top of the Australia Test team. He got back to this team, got his 15th Test hundred now, the first in the UK and you can see what does that mean to him. He got the monkey off his back,” said Ricky Ponting while commentating.
Khawaja led Australia past the follow-on target with what was his seventh hundred in 18 Tests since he was recalled to the side last year.
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Australia were struggling at 67-3 after Stuart Broad struck twice in two balls to remove David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne before England captain Ben Stokes captured the prize wicket of star batsman Steve Smith. But at tea on the second day, they were 188-4, with opener Khawaja 84 not out.
That still left Australia 205 runs behind England’s first-innings 393-8 declared featuring Joe Root’s 118 not out — the former captain’s first Ashes hundred in eight years.
