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Khawaja, Smith lead Aussie charge

Usman Khawaja not out 91 after steering Australia innings to steady spot on day two

With Sydney's temperature expected to push beyond the century mark over the coming weekend, England face the unpalatable prospect of watching Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith do the same as Australia seek to take a stranglehold in the final Magellan Ashes Test.

Day two of a series in which England have yet to record a win ended on a familiar theme.

The visiting batters failed to capitalise on a series of starts – eight of them passed 20 in their innings of 346 yet none went on to post a hundred – and then made few inroads into the top order of Australia who finished at 2-193, having reduced the deficit to 153.

Of more ominous portent is that Khawaja has struck form and will resume unbeaten on 91, while Smith – who seemingly has forgotten how to appear out of touch – has cruised almost imperceptibly to 44.

Unique Smith 'rewriting the textbook' says Waugh

With the prospect of another milestone innings in front of what is expected to be a full house for the annual Jane McGrath Pink Day at the SCG tomorrow to spur him further.

Australia's only stumbles as they closed in on England's total of 346 was the failure of Cameron Bancroft who was bowled for an inglorious duck, and his opening partner David Warner who was eyeing his fourth century in as many Tests at the SCG.

That Warner was unable to convert his 56 into a three-figure score before he edged a catch behind came as an even greater surprise than Bancroft's demise wasn't given the struggle the latter has found in battling England's seamers in recent weeks.

In the days before the summer's final Test began, Bancroft had batted away suggestions that his lack of a sizeable score since the opening game at the Gabba might mean his tenure at the top of the order is under threat.

His inability to do the same to a ball from Stuart Broad – the seventh the right-hander faced having played out a maiden from Jimmy Anderson to get the innings underway – means that conversation will only gather momentum in the weeks before the touring team to South Africa is named.

The defeated look on Bancroft's face after he fell across the crease and left a vast gap between bat and pad through which Broad expertly angled the ball to smash into middle and off stumps suggested a player fighting himself as doggedly as the opposition bowling.

Warner anchors Aussies with gritty fifty

A score in Australia's second innings, should the match situation demand one, will surely clear his mind as much as it will ease any selectorial pressure.

But with no first-class cricket between now and when that squad is named, and Bancroft not part of the impending Gillette ODI Series that begins next week, the chance to head back to the KFC Big Bash League and unleash himself at the white ball might be just the tonic the troubled opener requires.

Khawaja's record over this Test campaign had been similarly lean, and the pointed questions being posed about Bancroft had been broadened to include the left-handed number three whose place in the Test XI has been problematic for more than a year.

Regarded as one of the nation's most fluent strokemakers on home soil, but having shown a decided difficulty against spin on pitches conducive to that craft, Khawaja's inability to find a score of significance across the first four Tests frustrated his supporters as much as it must have annoyed him.

Back on what was once his home patch and where his Test career began in an Ashes contest seven years ago, Khawaja found a rhythm and a routine that had eluded him in the earlier outings during this campaign.

England even challenged his prowess against spin, perhaps mindful of the frailties that have cost Khawaja his berth on recent journeys to the subcontinent.

However, the impotent off-spin of Moeen Ali and rookie Mason Crane's mixed bag of leg breaks bore little resemblance to the examination provided by Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath or India's Ravi Ashwin or Shakib Al Hasan from Bangladesh.

Crane's false starts fail to shift Smith's focus

Consequently, Khawaja was able garnish his preferred array of sumptuous cover drives and silky sweep shots with such exotic flourishes as the occasional reverse sweep against the leg spin, and the straight drive back over Moeen that carried him to his half-century.

England's first innings should rightly have been capped before it reached 346, but the fielding missteps that had cost Australia three wickets on the opening day – all of them left-hander David Malan – became even more pronounced come the second morning.

Not that Malan benefited, his innings ended by a piece of fielding genius from Smith who atoned for the series of catches he's missed in the slips cordon over recent Tests by plucking an outrageous snare seven overs into the day.

Super Steven Smith snares a second slip screamer

Malan had endured for 180 deliveries to reach 62, with his near stumbles the previous day all arriving when he ventured outside his crease – a couple of near run outs, and an edge through Smith's fingers as he advanced down the track to spinner Nathan Lyon.

Counter-intuitively, his downfall came when he fended from the crease at a ball from Pat Cummins that took the edge of his bat and appeared headed safely to ground where a third-slip fielder might have been stationed before Smith swooped form a metre away to clutch the breakthrough.

Thoughts that it heralded a remarkable overnight turnaround in the home team's fielding standrads were shelved half an hour later when a pair of straightforward opportunities slipped from Australia's grasp.

Aussie quicks 'drop a couple of sodas'

Or, as was the case with the second of those that somehow eluded Josh Hazlewood, never quite made it within their grasp in the first instance.

Cummins could at least proclaim that he got both hands to the chance that Tom Curran spooned to him from the bowling of Nathan Lyon, and which arrived at almost waist height as the fast bowler moved neatly towards it at deep-set mid-on.

Whether the ball dipped late, merged with the background of patrons in the concourse of the Bradman Stand or simply hit his hands in a manner that's not best practice for arresting airborne projectiles only Cummins can explain.

But when he took said ball the following over to try and make amends for his error, his first offering drew an equally poor pull shot from Moeen Ali that floated towards mid-wicket where Hazlewood sauntered and settled under the chance.

Only to misjudge the ball's descent to such an extent that it appeared to pass, unhindered, between his cupped hands and his adjacent waist before thudding into the SCG turf.

The numerical damage of the back-to-back gaffes was hardly irretrievable – Curran added 18 to his total before he fended a tame push to short leg, while Moeen fell to a similar defensive push that carried through to keeper Tim Paine having advanced his score by just eight.

However, the frustration factor they produced was significant especially when Stuart Broad – who had hardly looked capable of scoring a run in this series until he freewheeled his way to 56 from 63 deliveries at the MCG last week – again treated Australia's attack with disdain.

While the home team's ploy of firing bouncers relentlessly at the bottom half of England's batting has proved effective in the first few Tests, it's now carries a similar surprise factor to last month's Christmas gifts.

As a result, with the ball old and the pitch similarly softened, Broad has found he can happily camp deep in his crease and swing with abandon knowing there is sufficient empty acreage on the vast Australian playing fields to lower the risk factor of such a strategy.

Steve Smith soars to the 6,000 Test run milestone

Today that approach brought him a further 31 at virtually a run a ball, a knock that featured a couple of hefty blows beyond the boundary rope as England pushed towards 350.

At least 50 runs shy of where they had hoped to land when Joe Root was heading for a century on Thursday evening, but about the same quantity ahead of where Australia had envisioned they would be curtailed having removed Malan in the day's first half-hour.

As it transpired, England's 346 was 20 more than Australia managed in the opening innings of the corresponding Ashes Test in Sydney four years ago, from where they fashioned a win by 281 runs inside three days.

When Bancroft was skittled in Broad's opening over, that result might have provided belated hope for the winless tourists.

By day's end, it seemed about as likely as Smith losing his appetite for runs.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Scorecard

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21