Australia's Khawaja posts gritty Test ton in Ahmedabad

By: Oliver Caffrey Time published 2023-03-09 at 10:23 PM (GMT +11:00)

Star opener Usman Khawaja has scored Australia's first century of the Border-Gavaskar series, bringing up the milestone late on day one of the fourth Test.

USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia bats during the First Test Match of the 2017/18 Ashes Series in Brisbane, Australia.
USMAN KHAWAJA of Australia bats during the First Test Match of the 2017/18 Ashes Series in Brisbane, Australia. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Australia opener Usman Khawaja has posted his 14th Test century by patiently batting through day one of the fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad.

Already Australia's best-performed batter during a difficult series, Khawaja finally cashed in on Thursday at Narendra Modi Stadium after scoring 81 in Delhi and 60 in Indore.

The 36-year-old brought up his first Test century in India from 246 balls in the final over before stumps and remained unbeaten on 104.

It was just the second time a player from either team had reached three figures this series, joining Rohit Sharma after the India captain blasted a sublime 120 in Nagpur.

During the innings he became the leading run-scorer in the series, overtaking Sharma on 207.

It continues a stunning career resurgence for Khawaja, who was named the Shane Warne Test Player of the Year for his brilliant 2022 as he scored 1080 runs with four centuries.

The classy left-hander returned to the Test team after a more than a two-year absence in January 2022 and has not looked back.