Tea Australia 2 for 111 (Khawaja 26*, Clarke 4*) v England
A determined effort from Australia's top order laid a solid foundation on the opening day at the SCG as the hosts reached 2 for 111 when rain brought an early tea in their quest to salvage Ashes pride. Phil Hughes and Shane Watson battled hard against the new ball on an overcast morning before both fell to disappointing shots, but Usman Khawaja settled impressively into Test cricket.
The openers were four balls away from surviving the first session when Hughes edged Chris Tremlett, the pick of England's bowlers, to third slip and Watson, who didn't collect a boundary during the first two hours, fell to Tim Bresnan after yet another unfulfilled innings. Khawaja, though, sped to 15 from his first eight balls and was joined by new captain Michael Clarke who received a mixture of boos and cheers when he walked in.
Clarke earlier won his first toss as Australia's 43rd Test captain and although batting first is normally the preferred option on a pitch that takes turn, a muggy morning meant England's quicks were not without encouragement. However, whereas they regularly found the edge in Melbourne here the ball beat the bat frequently, especially in the first hour, without getting reward.
Tremlett caused the most problems during a probing first spell where he trouble Watson and Hughes with extra bounce. James Anderson also found swing to have a couple of stifled lbw shouts although he was troubled by his take-off area, almost turning his ankle with his second ball, and also gained a warning for his follow-through from Billy Bowden. His first spell ended with figures of 5-0-5-0 and after 12 overs Australia had 17 runs, but the value of not losing early wickets was far greater than what the scoreboard showed.
The determination started to pay off as Hughes tucked into Bresnan's second over with a drive followed by a cut to collect consecutive boundaries and he then cut Graeme Swann's second ball for four to raise Australia's fifty.
Watson gave a good lesson in leaving on length as Tremlett's deliveries kept sailing over the stumps, but Hughes wasn't quite equal to the challenge when he pushed outside off and offered a simple chance to third slip having begun to show England he could handle the top level. It meant Khawaja had 40 minutes to ponder his first ball in Tests, but he calmly clipped his opening offering from Tremlett through the leg side for two then cracked away a bristling pull next ball.
Watson finally located the boundary from his 89th ball with a clip through midwicket, but it was Khawaja who was now attracting the attention. He was given another gift on leg stump which was flicked away and had the skill to play with soft hands so when he twice edged it fell short of second slip.
Either side of a needless stoppage for bad light, he appeared to have plenty of time to play his shots, guiding Tremlett down to third man, and was confident to come into the front foot in defence. Watson was also starting to find his rhythm with a front foot pull through midwicket and a sweet clip off the pads that whistled to the boundary.
However, with another half-century in sight Watson played forward to Bresnan and the ball shaped away a touch to find the edge and was well taken at first slip. Watson slammed his bat in frustration before dragging himself off the pitch. After a mixed reception, Clarke leant on a cover drive first ball to open his account but the rain was closing in and three overs later the players went off with the contest brewing up nicely.
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