Carey Slams Ton As Australia Seize Upper Hand on Day 1

Adelaide: A composed Alex Carey hit a majestic 106 on home soil and Usman Khawaja hit a defiant 82 on Wednesday to put Australia in the driver’s seat in the third Ashes Test against England.

Batting after captain Pat Cummins won the toss as temperatures at Adelaide Oval soared above 36 Celsius, the home team were 326-8 on day one following the shock news that Steve Smith had been ruled out due to illness.

Mitchell Starc was not trailing by 33 points and Nathan Lyon is yet to score.

The tireless Jofra Archer completed a difficult day on the field with a score of 3-29.

Australia lead the five-Test series 2-0 and will retain the Ashes if they win or draw after back-to-back eight-wicket innings in Perth and Brisbane.

Smith, who scored more than 10,000 runs, was not feeling well in the lead-up but was named to the bench on Tuesday.

He was on the field during the morning warm-up but left 20 minutes before the shootout shaking his head.

His absence presented an unexpected windfall for Khawaja, who turns 39 on Thursday and was overlooked in the opener in favor of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald; many feared this would be the end of his career.

Khawaja, who missed Brisbane after suffering a back spasm in Perth, grabbed his chance with a stoic strike after receiving a reprieve when he was dropped in the fifth over.

He finally got out just before tea and raced towards Josh Tongue on Will Jacks’ deep return.

Carey took over alongside first Josh Inglis (32), then Pat Cummins (13) and finally Starc, who once again showed his prowess with the bat.

He hit eight fours and a six for his third Test century, bringing up the milestone in front of family, friends and 56,298 fans; It was the biggest cricket crowd in the hall.

archer burst

The first incident that Archer experienced after lunch shook Australia.

He took Marnus Labuschagne to 19 points with the first ball he scored at the break.

Two deliveries later and Cameron Green was gone, Brydon Carse collecting catches at midwicket to dismiss both.

Inglis and Cummins also lost to Tongue and Carse respectively in the final session.

Weatherald had previously left the game with 18 points and Head with 10 points.

Players from both teams wore black armbands as a sign of respect for those killed in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.

Security was tightened at the Adelaide Oval, where flags were lowered to half-mast, and a minute’s silence was held before the game.

Weatherald was in early touch, smashing a series of boundaries off Carse, who was too short and wide.

But the opener’s eager approach cost him against the pace of Archer, who hit a bouncer and edged it past wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.

Head followed and Zak Crawley took a sensational, instinctive catch from bottom left at short cover of a fuller ball from Carse.

This brought Khawaja to the crease and he had a chance of survival when Harry Brook dropped the sitter at second slip.

Labuschagne easily caught out Carse on their return, then Green incredibly repeated the feat with the softest of dismissals.

It wasn’t a good look for the all-rounder, who this week became the most expensive overseas purchase in Indian Premier League history.

Khawaja hit his 28th Test 50 to huge applause, but his claim to a first century since his 232 against Sri Lanka nearly two years ago fell short.

Carey lived life at 52, with Carse giving up a tough chance at the caps and the 34-year-old making the most of it.

Later in the day he made his way up the scoreboard to reach a hundred before heading up top against Jacks wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.