DAY 4 REPORT
Follow UsAfter a clinical 137 in the first innings, Usman Khawaja enhanced his comeback with his second hundred of the match. His 101 not out from 138 balls has placed Australia in a commanding position to chase down yet another victory over weary England in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney.
His domineering 179-run partnership with the youngster Cameron Green set up a late declaration, leaving a beleaguered England a mountainous target of 388 runs.
The tourists, however, got to the close without losing a wicket for 30, with Zak Crawley on 22 not out and Haseeb Hameed on 8. The highest winning run-chase in the fourth innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground stands at 288 for 2 by Australia against South Africa in 2006. No touring team has gone past 200.
England, who surrendered the Ashes inside 12 days and are yet to pass 300 in the series, will hope to stop Australia from going 4-0 up on the final day on Sunday.
Khawaja became the third Australian player to score twin centuries in 140 years of Ashes cricket at the SCG, and the sixth in a Test match.
"I always wanted to score a century in both innings in first-class cricket and have never done it, but it's just a nice one to tick off," Khawaja said.
"It puts the team in a position where hopefully we can try win a Test match tomorrow. It all worked out pretty well, it doesn't always happen in life, in cricket, it's special."
He toyed with the England bowling with his hundred flowing off 138 balls, laced with 10 fours and two sixes.
He had solid support from Green, who registered his second Test half-century with a confidence-boosting 74 before he top-edged Jack Leach to Joe Root. Alex Carey surprisingly came out to bat and was out first ball to Leach, signaling the long-awaited declaration by skipper Pat Cummins. Leach finished with 4-84 off 21.5 overs.
Khawaja and Green rebuffed England's efforts after the loss of key batsmen David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith to have the Australians at 86 for 4.
Smith again failed to get going in a 31-ball stay and was bowled for 23 after he was late on the shot from a Leach skidder. So far in the series, Smith has scored a total of 217 runs with a top score of 93 in the second Adelaide Test. His series average stands at 36.16, well below his current Test average of 60.84.
Mark Wood once again captured the valued wicket of the No. 1 ranked Test batsman Labuschagne, having him caught behind for 29. The 'Durham express' has now taken Labuschagne's wicket three times among his eight wickets in the series, in the space of 52 balls.
Australia also lost openers Warner (3) and Marcus Harris (27) before lunch.
The indefatigable Wood coaxed an outside edge off Warner for stand-in wicketkeeper Ollie Pope to take the catch. Pope finished with four catches deputising for Jos Buttler, who had X-rays after taking a blow to his left index finger on day two. Buttler's injury will be evaluated at the end of the Sydney Test, team officials said.
England earlier added 36 runs in their first innings before they were dismissed for 294 to give Australia a 122-run innings lead. Jonny Bairstow added 10 more runs before he was caught behind off Scott Boland. The big Yorkshireman soaked up the crowd's applause as he left the field.
Bairstow faced 158 balls and hit eight fours and three sixes, battling on after taking a nasty blow to his thumb from Cummins when he was on 60.
Boland continued his remarkable series with his team's best figures of 4 for 36. Since his extraordinary Test debut in Melbourne, where he was the player of the match with 6 for 7, he has captured 11 wickets at 8.27.