KARACHI: Australia’s left-handed opener Usman Khawaja scored his first Test century in Pakistan to propel Australia to finish at 251/3 after Steve Smith’s dismissal in the closing minutes of the first day of the second Test of Benaud-Qadir Trophy, here on Saturday.
Usman stole the limelight by notching up his first century in the country he was born. The left-handed batter remained unbeaten on 127 runs off 266 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and a six.
Smith, on the other hand, scored a brilliant half-century before walking back to the pavilion in the second last over of the first day. The right-handed batter scored 72 off 214 balls, laced with seven boundaries before Faheem Ashraf took a stunning catch at slip cordon on Hassan Ali’s delivery.
The pair of Smith and Usman batted for almost 69 overs and put on a valuable 159 runs partnership for the third wicket.
At the toss, the touring side opted to bat first and managed to score 100/2 before the lunch break of the first day of the Karachi Test after an eventful session.
Australia’s opener Usman remained firm and scored an unbeaten half-century, while Warner walked back after scoring 36.
The pair provided a solid 82-runs partnership for the first wicket before Faheem Ashraf provided the first breakthrough to Pakistan as Warner nicked one behind into the safe hands of Mohammad Rizwan.
Usman then put on a brief nine runs partnership with Marnus Labuschagne but the latter went back cheaply for a duck following a direct hit from Sajid Khan.
For Pakistan, Faheem managed to pick up a wicket so far.
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