Hampshire [UK]: Australia faced a minor hiccup on Wednesday as Usman Khawaja was struck by a bouncer bowled by West Indies player Andre Russell during a practice match between the teams ahead of the World Cup at Hampshire’s Nursery Ground.
After the incident, Khawaja was forced to retire hurt in the second over of the inning when Australia were chasing a modest target of 230 runs. Khawaja did not take part in the game afterwards and went to the hospital for x-rays. However, after the scans on his jaw, Khawaja was cleared of serious injury.
Shaun Marsh, who scored an unbeaten 55 in the match, termed the Khawaja incident ‘scary’. “It was very scary. It copped him on the side of the cheekbone … The main thing is he is OK and can bounce back pretty quickly,” Cricket.com.au quoted Marsh as saying.
It was Steve Smith (76) and Shaun Marsh’s brilliant half-centuries which helped Australia chase the target in the absence of their in-form batsman Khawaja and register a seven-wicket victory over West Indies.
Australia will face England and Sri Lanka on May 25 and 27 respectively for their World Cup warm-up matches before heading into the premier tournament to compete with Afghanistan on June 1.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]