Attacking fielding positions set by Ben Stokes played a crucial part in England dismissing Australia opening batter Usman Khawaja on the third day of the first Ashes 2023 Test match at Edgbaston today. Khawaja, who almost batted for four sessions, scored his 15th Test century to set the ball rolling from the visitors’ perspective.
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Having scored 141 (321) at a strike rate of 43.92, the left-handed batter managed to not get swayed by Bazball. On the contrary, staying true to his natural game allowed him to score a maiden Test century in England. With Australia losing four wickets even before crossing the 150-run mark on Day 2, it was a need of the hour for one of their batters to occupy the crease. Been there, done that, for his team in the last 18 months or so, Khawaja thrived by doing justice to his potential.
Stokes, meanwhile, had tried pretty much everything up his sleeve with respect to bowling changes in order to put curbs around Khawaja. Even when the 36-year old player wasn’t allowed to rotate strike, he didn’t lose his patience in any way. When neither of the seven English bowlers managed to dismiss Khawaja, it was Stokes’ innovative fielding tactics which forced the former to make a mistake.
How Fielding Positions Set By Ben Stokes Played A Part In Usman Khawaja’s Dismissal On Day 3
It was on the fourth delivery of the 113th over when Khawaja aimed to attack England pacer Ollie Robinson by charging down the track to a fuller delivery. The fact that Khawaja almost yorked himself is a testament to how badly he wanted to clear the in-field. That said, all he ended up doing was fall into a trap laid by Stokes.
Having enticed a lot of eyeballs for unusual field placements in the Birmingham Test, Stokes created a semi-circle of fielders around Khawaja. Interestingly, neither of the three catching fielders on either side of the pitch were in the slips or anywhere behind the batter.
With Khawaja needing to clear these six fielders in a bid to find a boundary, his unsuccessful attempt brought an end to what was a fantastic third Test century of the year for him. Khawaja, who had relied heavily on driving the ball throughout his innings, would’ve been better doing the same instead of trying to force the issue. However, it is exactly what Stokes’ captaincy made him do on a Sunday afternoon.
Khawaja, who was the second batter after wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey (66) to be dismissed in the morning session, was followed by the remaining three batters within the next four overs as Australia were bundled out for 386 in 116.1 overs to give the hosts a 7-run first-innings lead.
