07 January,2023 11:19 AM IST | Sydney | AFP
Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja said it would be "harsh" if he was denied the chance of claiming his first Test double century by a declaration in Australia's third Test against South Africa. The entire third day's play was washed out by rain in Sydney on Friday in the final Test of what has been a one-sided series in favour of the hosts. Australia skipper Pat Cummins now has a decision to make ahead of Saturday's fourth day: whether to declare the team's first-innings at 475-4 and get the Proteas in to bat or give Khawaja the chance to bring up a landmark double century. Khawaja is stranded on 195. Matt Renshaw, who tested positive for Covid at the start of the match, is five not out.
Also Read: Australia vs South Africa: Anrich Nortje strikes twice to restrict Oz to 147-2
"I think it'd be pretty harsh if he (Cummins) bowled straight away. I don't think that's going to happen," Khawaja told reporters. "He's been making a few jokes... [saying] âI've let [South African skipper] Dean Elgar know that we want to go out and have a bowl straight away'. "We could go out there and get a few more runs really quickly or we could declare pretty much straight away. I'm not the captain... I don't make those decisions," said the batsman.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever