Moment of luck snaps Khawaja's tough run

For a few fraught seconds, as the ball looped unintendedly from the top-edge of his once trusted bat and a pair of Sri Lanka fielders scrambled to catch it, Usman Khawaja felt his wretched summer had penned a final, forgettable chapter.

Emerging to bat in the shadow of a first-innings duck and a summer's Test average of just over 23, Khawaja had seen his temperament, his technique and his immediate place in the Australia team queried by a series of commentators, expert and otherwise.

And having faced just 12 balls today, from which he managed a single scoring shot, it seemed that his last Test innings before Australia enters into a lengthy hiatus prior to next August's Ashes campaign would end in another single-figure score.

Until that errant top-edge that hung in the air like an ill-timed joke as Sri Lanka's keeper and fine leg fielder converged at helter-skelter for the mid-point between them, fell safely to earth.

That rare, faith-restoring moment of good fortune set the elegant left-hander on his way in the belief that, perhaps, the tumult he has endured over recent months was finally fading behind him.

Three hours later, the 32-year-old was leaping from the Manuka Oval turf and pumping his fist in celebration at having completed his eighth Test century as Australia rammed home their advantage over a stricken Sri Lanka.

"I've had a tough summer, I've had a lot of stuff going on off the field which has made things a lot tougher," Khawaja revealed at day's end, with Australia 498 runs ahead and chasing 10 wickets over the final two days for victory.

"You always need a bit of luck in this game.

"Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't."

Certainly for Khawaja, it's been in drought-like supply since he reached a high watermark in his Test career last October.

That was when Khawaja was feted for playing one of Australia's great modern Test innings, his almost-nine-hour epic against Pakistan in the desert heat of Dubai securing an heroic draw and providing a notable moment of light in a bleak year for Australia's men's cricket.

But then he tweaked his knee in a training drill and spent six weeks on the sidelines, a setback that was followed by even greater pain when his brother, Arsalan, was arrested and charged with attempting to pervert justice and forgery.

That news broke on the eve of his comeback to Test cricket for the four-match Domain Series against India that Australia ultimately lost 1-2, a campaign in which the form that Khawaja had found in the UAE deserted him.

Having spent the past two months battling the glare of unwanted publicity and family turmoil, as well as the endless critique and criticism that comes with being a professional sportsperson battling for results and confidence, Khawaja found himself struggling.