🔗 Share this article

Chalk it up to destiny, luck, or a quirk of chance, whatever your preference. Should Australia's first day in Adelaide proved to be a jigsaw puzzle hurled into the air, most of the pieces landed face up and in the right place. It's been a recurring pattern for the hosts in this contest: dominated by England's bowlers in Perth, only to orchestrate an more dramatic collapse; sliding in Brisbane, rescued by the lower order.

Once again, the trend persisted: whether it was dodgy fielding or dodgy equipment, things keep working out for the home team.

The tourists, in contrast, arrived with a gameplan built on the belief that they could not succeed in Australia with medium-fast seamers and a wicketkeeper standing close, then lost to be defeated by medium-fast seamers with a keeper in close. England was handed the gift of a missing Pat Cummins, no Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon's unavailability and still proceeded to lose twice in six days. Their third encounter delivered the next gift: Steve Smith missing with an inner-ear problem, their own personal Ghost of Ashes Past substituted in the middle order by a creaking, struggling top-order batter whom Australia had already tried to omit.

Out of politeness, England had to drop him too. In the cordon, on just five, when the total would have been 50 for three. Just a few hours earlier, Usman Khawaja's Test future had been all but finished, with selectors finding a shiny new toy called the aggressive opening batter. Soon after, Khawaja had been twice reprieved, initially by Smith's balance issues, then by Harry Brook's lack of balance at slip.

A Unshackled Knock from the Middle Order

The move down the order had only spared him nine overs at the top, but that meant he almost entirely dodged Jofra Archer's fierce first spell, a possibly decisive missed contest given Khawaja's poor recent years against high-speed bowling. Liberated, with nothing to lose, Khawaja played perhaps his most fluent and confident knock since his previous return through the middle order in 2022.

Josh Tongue was not much slower than Archer, but Khawaja picked off his errors while exploiting Ben Stokes's bouncer to get his trademark hook going. He identified Will Jacks's weakness as a part-time bowler and thumped him accordingly. He compiled a half century after lunch, amid a crucial rebuild with Alex Carey after some Christmas giveaways.

Smith may be Australia's best bat in historical context, Carey might be their most in-form one at present, after his second century this year.

A Chance That Slipped Away, but Impact Made

There remains a strong possibility of this being Khawaja's final match, with Smith to come back and the other batters unlikely to change, so a hundred that could have been both redemption and farewell would have been a remarkable tale. But straining against late-career limitations left it too distant. A legendary captain in his last Test was fighting the end, hoping for one last ton, out instead attempting a big shot a spinner to deep midwicket. Khawaja, older still, was out playing the same shot a spinner to the same fielder for 82.

Nevertheless, it was defining for the team, and further proof of how disruption hasn't bothered these Australians. Lose your top batter minutes before the match? The stand-in has it covered. A unorthodox lineup to follow? It poses no issue either.

Carey's Hometown Heroics

Carey as wicketkeeper would traditionally bat at No 7, while the plan at the start of the series was to establish Cameron Green at No 6. The spot created by Travis Head's move was at No 5. And yet, instead of using Josh Inglis there, Australia inserted Inglis at No 7 and promoted Green and Carey a place.

Nothing feels conventional about placing an current keeper ahead of an specialist batter who keeps wicket, but on this occasion it proved effective, perhaps because Carey was unburdened in the initial batting effort. He secured the century that Khawaja missed, scoring in his characteristically positive way, producing a huge Adelaide occasion as hometown crowds swelled the ground.

In the end, he guided Australia's score from 85 when he arrived to 321 when he was dismissed, and further runs are possible for the final two wickets on the second morning. Smith was absent, most of the leading batters made insignificant contributions, yet Australia are still on top, with far more runs than seemed probable at several stages.

The visitors' sole route to alter this dynamic is a brute-force reset: claim the remaining wickets, bat for five sessions in the heat. Anything else leaves it up to the fates, or luck, or a quirk of statistics. Don't trust any of them.