Usman Khawaja’s Double Centuries Lifts Australia Lead

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja’s stunning return to the Test cricket in the Ashes series continued Saturday also Usman with a blistering century in Australia’s second innings on day four which led the hosts to 265-6 declared and set England an unlikely 388 runs to win the fourth Ashes Test.

Openers Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed then survived a nervous 11 overs in fading light to get England safely to stumps at 29 without loss.

Convinced his second century in 48 hours will not be enough to spare him the axe, super-sub Usman Khawaja has selflessly advocated for the kind of selection consistency that he craved earlier in his career.

Khawaja’s remarkable return to Test cricket as he followed his first-innings 137 with a sublime unbeaten 101 that hastened an Australian declaration and revived the hosts’ hopes of a 5-0 whitewash that has been threatened by inclement weather.

“At the moment I’m quite resigned to the fact that I probably will miss out,” Khawaja said.

“Just talking to (selection chief) George Bailey and the selectors about continuity and making sure we have a similar team. I’m not totally against that either.