Ashes 2017/18: Usman Khawaja hits 171 as Australia build lead in Sydney in final Ashes Test

Ashes 2017/18: Usman Khawaja tons up, Shaun Marsh closing in as Australia eases ahead in final Ashes Test Australia is 4-479 and leads the dead rubber at the SCG by 133 runs after Khawaja’s first Ashes century finished on 171, three runs shy of his highest Test score.But the elder Marsh took over from there and finished the day 98 not out, with brother Mitch at the other end on 63. Shaun had a chance to reach the ton before the end of the day, but took a single off the last ball of the day and Mitch saw off the final five balls.It would not be fair to say the hosts are tearing ahead — the scoring rate stayed below three runs an over for most of the day — although the Marshes are pushing the pace after Australia enjoyed a number of narrow escapes through the day. Usman Khawaja hit a mammoth 171 and Shaun Marsh was approaching his sixth Test century as Australia eased 133 runs ahead of England on 479 for four after the third day of the fifth Ashes clash on Saturday. Khawaja shared a stand of 188 with captain Steve Smith, who was dismissed just before lunch, and another of 101 with Marsh, who just missed out on his second hundred of the series in the over before stumps. Marsh will resume on 98 on day four with his brother Mitchell, who was 63 not out, as they look to bat the tourists out of the match and set up an opportunity for their bowlers to secure a win that would give Australia a 4-0 series triumph. The Marsh brothers combined for 104 in the final session and punished England with a flurry of boundaries in the last hour as the bowlers tired after a long day’s slog in bright sunshine at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was Khawaja’s sure hand, though, that guided Australia past England’s tally of 346 after Mooen Ali (1-125) had stunned a packed house by moving the apparently unmoveable when he dismissed Smith caught and bowled for 83. Smith had already scored three centuries, two of them unbeaten and one a double, in the series and although denied a fourth, walked off his home ground having amassed 687 runs at an average of 137.4 over the five Tests. Khawaja had an lbw scare in the following over but was reprieved when TV pictures showed Mason Crane had bowled a no ball and he otherwise looked assured as he calmly totted up the runs in the face of some tight English bowling. A fine stroke-player but considered suspect against spin bowling, Khawaja has had a stop-start career in the baggy green since making his debut at the SCG in the corresponding Ashes clash eight years ago. He wasted no time in knocking off the nine runs he needed to secure his first hundred against England at the start of the day, cutting Moeen for two before soaking up the ovation from a crowd largely clad in pink in support of former fast bowler Glenn McGrath’s cancer charity. Spinner Moeen was again bowling when he reached the 150 mark, two consecutive fours to get over the mark a rare flourish in a 381-ball innings that contained 18 of them along with a solitary six. England captain Joe Root came closest to a breakthrough in the second session when Shaun Marsh, on 22, was given out caught behind only for the decision to be reversed when TV pictures showed a big gap between ball and bat. It was debutant leg-spinner Crane who finally ended the 31-year-old’s time out in the middle to claim his first Test victim, beating the bat to leave Khawaja stranded and Jonny Bairstow with a simple stumping. Crane, 20, attracted the ire of the crowd with his habit of pulling out of his run-up but kept his head up despite finishing with figures of 1-125. It was a very good day on the decision review system for Australia with Mitchell Marsh also reversing a late lbw decision after the snicko revealed an inside edge. Australia won back the Ashes with victories in the first three matches in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with the fourth Test in Melbourne finishing in a draw last week Australia v England Date:3 January 2018Match:5th TestVenue:Sydney Cricket Ground, SydneyStart time:15:30Umpires:Handunnettige Dharmasena / Joel WilsonToss: England won the toss and elected to bat. Australia lead England by 133 runs with 6 wickets remaining — Close of play England First Innings 346 all out (112.3 overs) Australia First Innings 479 for 4 (157.0 overs) England First Innings Runs Mins Balls 4s 6s SR Extras (0nb 2w 2lb 0b) Total 346 all out (112.3 overs) Alastair Cook lbw Josh Hazlewood 39 143 104 3 0 37.5 Mark Stoneman c Tim Paine b Pat Cummins 24 45 24 4 0 100 James Vince c Tim Paine b Pat Cummins 25 82 54 4 0 46.3 Joe Root * c Mitchell Marsh b Mitchell Starc 83 225 141 8 0 58.87 Dawid Malan c Steven Smith b Mitchell Starc 62 249 180 6 0 34.44 Jonny Bairstow † c Tim Paine b Josh Hazlewood 5 9 7 1 0 71.43 Moeen Ali c Tim Paine b Pat Cummins 30 91 58 2 0 51.72 Tom Curran c Cameron Bancroft b Pat Cummins 39 90 65 6 0 60 Stuart Broad c Steven Smith b Nathan Lyon 31 45 32 1 2 96.88 Mason Crane run out (Mitchell Marsh) 4 18 7 0 0 57.14 James Anderson not out 0 6 3 0 0 0 Bowling O M R W Econ nb w Mitchell Starc 21 6 80 2 3.81 0 0 Josh Hazlewood 23 4 65 2 2.83 0 0 Pat Cummins 24.3 5 80 4 3.27 0 2 Nathan Lyon 37 5 86 1 2.32 0 0 Mitchell Marsh 7 0 33 0 4.71 0 0 Fall of wickets Overs 28 Mark Stoneman 9.5 88 James Vince 28.5 95 Alastair Cook 32.3 228 Joe Root 80.3 233 Jonny Bairstow 81.4 251 Dawid Malan 88.4 294 Moeen Ali 102.4 335 Tom Curran 108.4 346 Stuart Broad 111.4 346 Mason Crane 112.3 Australia First Innings Runs Mins Balls 4s 6s SR Extras (2nb 1w 3lb 2b) Total 479 for 4 (157.0 overs) Cameron Bancroft b Stuart Broad 0 6 7 0 0 0 David Warner c Jonny Bairstow b James Anderson 56 122 104 6 0 53.85 Usman Khawaja st Jonny Bairstow b Mason Crane 171 514 381 18 1 44.88 Steven Smith * c & b Moeen Ali 83 254 158 5 0 52.53 Shaun Marsh not out 98 265 207 10 0 47.34 Mitchell Marsh not out 63 119 87 9 2 72.41 Tim Paine † Mitchell Starc Pat Cummins Josh Hazlewood Nathan Lyon Bowling O M R W Econ nb w James Anderson 30 11 52 1 1.73 0 0 Stuart Broad 23 2 70 1 3.04 0 0 Moeen Ali 37 9 125 1 3.38 0 0 Tom Curran 20 2 71 0 3.55 0 1 Mason Crane 39 3 135 1 3.46 2 0 Joe Root 8 3 21 0 2.63 0 0 Fall of wickets Overs 1 Cameron Bancroft 1.2 86 David Warner 31.4 274 Steven Smith 93.1 375 Usman Khawaja 130.4]]>