Khawaja stars in defeat
February 05, 2012 12:50:21 UK
New South Wales youngster Usman Khawaja scored an impressive ton against Tasmania Tigers on Saturday in a Ryobi Cup encounter and reminded the Australian selectors of his existence, ahead of the national team's upcoming tour of the Caribbean.
It's never fun to get a hundred and lose.
Usman Khawaja.
But the joy of his personal century wasn't too sweet for Khawaja as his team lost the match by three wickets, a result that dealt almost a fatal blow to their already thin Ryobi Cup hopes.
NSW are to win the 2011/12 Ryobi Cup, while Tasmania are 1.90.
NSW's other opening batsman Moises Henriques got out on the very first ball of the match, after which the Pakistani-born Khawaja came to his side's rescue and stabilised the ship.
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The Blues seemed destined for a sizeable score but were eventually able to muster just 230 runs thanks to a major middle-order collapse. The Tigers then achieved the target at the loss of seven wickets.
In the post-match interview, Khawaja said: "It's never fun to get a hundred and lose.
"It's a pretty tough feeling, especially when we were going pretty well with the bat at one stage, so it's very disappointing to be probably 30 runs short. It's a disappointing night."
The wicket was slow and the Tasmanian bowlers were bowling a very tight line but Khawaja still managed to score runs at good pace and needed just 104 deliveries to reach his century.
"You had to get used to the pace, it looked better than it played. It was a bit slow and made it hard to drive on the ground.
"It almost made aerial shots easier. I think in all it was about a 260 par wicket so were just a bit short there," he added.
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