Australia’s Usman Khawaja led his team towards a recovery with his unbeaten 84 on Day 2 at Edgbaston. By Tea, Australia had reached 188 for 4, still trailing behind England by 205 runs. The visitors added 110 runs in the post-Lunch session for the loss of only one wicket, with the 81-run partnership between Khawaja and half-centurion Travis Head being the foundation of the revival.
Khawaja, who resumed his innings on 40, brought up his half-century right after Tea. He smashed offspinner Moeen Ali for a six down the ground, and then drove him to sweeper cover to score a single and reach his fifty two overs later. Meanwhile, Head played the dominant role in the pair’s partnership and capitalized on Moeen’s deliveries. He cut and pulled with ease and caution, while Khawaja evaded the testing period with calm against the pacers.
Ben Stokes remained innovative with his tactics, often testing the batters with the short-pitched ploy and being proactive with his field placements. Khawaja was uncomfortable with the chest-length deliveries, but he managed to evade trouble by tackling the pacers before going on the offensive against the spinners.
Head did not hold back even against the pacers, causing stir by guiding a short and wide delivery through the backward point region for three runs, and brought up his 14th Test fifty. However, he failed to follow through and give Moeen his maiden wicket on his Test comeback. He tried to go down the track, but his chip found the mid-wicket fielder. Cameron Green replaced Head and missed the spinning ball while stepping out, but Jonny Bairstow fumbled his stumping chance. The pair went for a traditional approach as Tea approached, with Green facing Joe Root in the last over before Tea and hitting a couple of boundaries through the offside.
Earlier in the day, England had control of the match, claiming three wickets in the morning session and conceding only 64 runs. Australia started slowly, scoring their first run of the morning only off James Anderson’s 24th ball. Stuart Broad struck twice in the seventh over of the day, dismissing David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne off consecutive deliveries.
Steve Smith and Khawaja aimed to fix things with a 38-run partnership for the third wicket, but Ben Stokes got Smith legbefore with his impressive incoming delivery. England declared their inning at 393/8 (Joe Root 112*, Jonny Bairstow 78, Zak Crawley 61; Nathan Lyon 4-149, Josh Hazlewood 2-61) earlier. Australia finished Day 2 at 188/4 (Usman Khawaja 84*, Travis Head 50; Stuart Broad 2-31), still trailing England by 205 runs.
