ADELAIDE: A composed Alex Carey slammed a majestic 106 on his home ground, and Usman Khawaja hit a defiant 82 on Wednesday to put Australia in the driving seat of the third Ashes Test against England.
Batting after captain Pat Cummins won the toss as temperatures topped 36 Celsius at Adelaide Oval, the hosts were 326-8 at stumps on day one after the shock news of Steve Smith being ruled out with illness.
Mitchell Starc was not out 33 at Stumps, and Nathan Lyon was yet to score.
A tireless Jofra Archer ended with 3-29 on a tough day toiling in the field.
Australia lead the five-Test series 2-0 and will retain the Ashes if they win or draw, after back-to-back eight-wicket thumpings in Perth and Brisbane.
Smith, who has more than 10,000 runs, had been feeling unwell in the lead-up but was named in the side. He was on the field during the morning warm-up but left 20 minutes before the toss, shaking his head.
His absence gave an unexpected chance for Khawaja, who turns 39 on Thursday and was overlooked as opener in favour of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald, with many fearing it spelt the end of his career.
Khawaja, who missed Brisbane after suffering back spasms in Perth, grabbed his chance in a stoic knock after being handed a reprieve when dropped on five.
He was eventually out just before tea, slog-sweeping to Josh Tongue in the deep off the spin of Will Jacks.
Carey picked up the mantle, first alongside Josh Inglis (32), then Pat Cummins (13), and latterly Starc, who once more showed his prowess with the bat.
He hit eight fours and a six in his third Test century, bringing up the milestone in front of family, friends and 56,298 fans — the biggest cricket crowd ever at the venue.
A blistering first over after lunch from Archer had left Australia reeling. He removed Marnus Labuschagne for 19 with his first ball after the interval.
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Two deliveries later, Cameron Green was gone, with Brydon Carse collecting catches at midwicket to dismiss both.
Inglis and Cummins also fell in the final session to Tongue and Carse, respectively. Weatherald was earlier out for 18 and Head for 10.
Players from both teams were wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to the victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
A moment of silence was held before the game, with security tightened at a packed Adelaide Oval where flags were flying at half-mast.
Weatherald was in fine early touch, clobbering a series of boundaries from Carse, who was too short and wide.
But the opener’s gung-ho approach cost him against the pace of Archer, who fired down a bouncer and induced a top edge to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Head followed next over, with Zak Crawley taking a sensational instinctive catch low to his left at short cover off a fuller ball from Carse.
That brought Khawaja to the crease, and he was fortunate to survive when Harry Brook dropped a sitter at second slip.
Labuschagne lobbed an easy catch to Carse on their return, then incredibly Green repeated the feat in the softest of dismissals.
Khawaja brought up his 28th Test 50 to big cheers, but his bid for a first century since his 232 against Sri Lanka, nearly two years ago, was dashed.
Alex Carey had a life on 52 when Carse put down a difficult chance in the covers, and the 34-year-old made the most of it.
He kept the scoreboard ticking over to reach his hundred before top-edging Jacks to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith late in the day.
