Usman Khawaja was named the match’s most valuable player for his brilliant scores of 141 and 65.Australia began its Ashes 2023 campaign on a high note, defeating England by two wickets on Edgbaston’s fifth day on June 20. Australia entered Day 5 174 runs behind their target of 281 with seven wickets remaining.
However, they were in trouble at 227 for eight, requiring 54 runs to win with captain Pat Cummins and wicketkeeper Nathan Lyon at the crease. The duo’s improbable fifty-run stand helped their team snare victory from the clutches of defeat. It is his second Player of the Match award in the last three Ashes Tests, and the opening batsman was ecstatic with his performance, describing it as the greatest of his life.
“SCG was unique and unanticipated. My career ended in my mind. It was, as I’ve said a million times before. After the match, Usman Khawaja remarked, “From an individual perspective, it’s difficult to top that, but from a team perspective and in terms of wins, this is by far my favourite game ever.”
Notably, Usman Khawaja returned to the Test squad after being dismissed in the middle of the 2019 Ashes. On his return during the fourth Test of the Ashes 2021-22 in Sydney, the southpaw made a grand entrance by scoring two scintillating hundreds.
Usman Khawaja stated that the ebbs and flows of the game kept him on the edge of his perch during the entire Test.
The way it ebbed and flowed, the way they came out, and the way we counterattacked, it appeared that we had lost the game with approximately an hour remaining, and to come back and win was without a doubt my favourite game ever.
Since his return to Test cricket, Khawaja has amassed seven centuries in 32 innings, with an average of 67.66 and a total of 1827 runs. England, who lost the first Test, will attempt a revival in the second match, which begins on June 28 at Lord’s in London.
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