Australia's Usman Khawaja, third left, waits for another helmet after he is hit by the ball on day four of the fifth Ashes Test match between England and Australia, at The Oval cricket ground in London, Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) A captivating narrative was taking form and shape when incessant rain prematurely ended the fourth day’s play at the Oval. In pursuit of 384 runs that would see Australia winning a series in England after 22 years of wait and hurt, the visitors produced their best opening stand of the series— David Warner and Usman Khawaja stitching 135 hassle-free runs—before the clouds burst and rain washed the ground an hour into the second session.
Nonetheless, it promises another intriguing final day, where results of every kind are still possible. Australia could go for glory or dead-bat to a draw and win the series; England’s bowlers could deliver a searing account of their skills and smarts to square the series and prolong Australia’s wait for a series triumph. Broad would pour his skill and heart out, as he had all through the glorious career, to bow out on a high, without ever having lost an Ashes series at home. His bunny and bête noire, Warner, would nurse other plans. Ironic it would be if Warner scores a hundred in his final innings in England on the final day of Broad’s Test career. There lurks a probability that, if Warner does not convert his 58 not out into a sizable knock, this could be his last outing in the Baggy Green too. Even in their final bout, the stakes could not have been higher for the pair.
As always there are layers and layers within layers, a maze of interwoven plots and subplots. Pat Cummins would know the backlash he would countenance if he returned home without a series win; his counterpart Ben Stokes would be aware of the chastening that awaits his team’s guiding philosophy, if he loses this series. The Ashes, thus, head to the final day as it began on the first day, with the series, honour, and pride at stake.
And as a result, play has been abandoned on Day 4 🤝
We'll be back tomorrow on the hunt for 🔟 wickets! #EnglandCricket | #Ashes https://t.co/rJUhxIMX6z
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 30, 2023
That the match and series is still on the balance owes to the diligence and craft of Warner and Khawaja, two 36-year-olds, two good friends, but with entirely different personalities, demeanor, and style of batting. Warner is all brooding intensity, strokes wrought with brutal power and machismo, screeching like a locomotive. Khawaja flows as calmly as a brook, all neat glides and deflections, occupies his crease quietly, statuesque until the ball is right beside him.
The two have been walking through different stages of their career. Khawaja is enjoying the golden sunset of his largely start-stop career, finally blossoming into the world-beating batsman he had long promised to be. Warner is raging against the darkness that is engulfing his career. It’s the reason perhaps they have not quite clicked as a pair. In 36 innings together, they have mustered only two century partnerships including the one at Oval, at an average of 37. But if they stretch the 135 to a bigger stand and prevent a defeat, they could be remembered as a pair for this innings alone.
His final ball faced in Test Cricket? 🤔
A MASSIVE six! ❤️@StuartBroad8 🙌 pic.twitter.com/jHg99Q2nAi
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 30, 2023
Solid partnership
Those 135 runs they tangoed on Sunday were as solid as they were meticulous. The clarity of approach was refreshing. Warner made sure that he expended all his mental energy on his first 20 runs. In seven of his 10 innings, he managed to cross 20, but went beyond 50 only twice. He has faced 50 balls on an average, yet not made it count. He was too spooked by Broad, he was too crushed by his lack of runs. But on Friday, he was not just driven but determined, leaving and defending stoutly, moving fluently, judging lengths precisely, not getting squared up or caught in a dilemma.
And now Warner reaches 50 too. Australia 0-113 #Ashes
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 30, 2023
Batting was no longer a struggle. Both his feet and mind were flexible and coordinating with each other, best exemplified by a James Anderson beamer he guided over slips. Two balls before, he had thumped him down the ground, as though this was the final powerplay over. He took his guard far from the popping crease to negate the swing, which was negligible anyway, and fluently moved forward with his short but precise strides. The domination of new-ball armed Broad naturally bolstered his confidence. But just when he seemed like shifting through the gears — he picked up a brace of boundaries off Joe Root — the rain began to hammer down.
Khawaja’s dilemma was different—he has been his country’s best batsman in the Cummins captaincy era. He tone-set the Ashes with a first-innings hundred in Egdbaston, and has scored the most number of runs and faced the most number of deliveries this Ashes. Yet, he was criticized for his turgidly slow batting at times in this series, a case of (mis)judging through the Bazball-hued lens. His 157-ball 47 in the first innings here was especially censured. The second innings knock was different. He was proactive, nudged and clipped a lot of singles, and didn’t spare any loose balls.
Khawaja reaches another half-century for the series #Ashes
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 30, 2023
Aiding their cause was the placid surface, there was hardly any swing with the new ball; there was spin on offer, but Moeen Ali was half-fit and Joe Root had not the energy for sustained spells of quality. Late in the day, Mark Wood purchased a hint of reverse swing before the ball was changed. The harder ball carried extra zip and he banged Khawaja on the back of his helmet. The game began to enliven, before the rain arrived and took the most absorbing Ashes since 2005 into the final day.
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