David Warner leads the charge as Twitter reacts to Usman Khawaja's career-defining ton during 4th Ashes Test

Australian batter Usman Khawaja enjoyed a fairytale comeback to the national Test team on Thursday as he smashed his ninth century in the fourth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Playing in his first Test since getting dropped during the 2019 Ashes, Khawaja made the most of his opportunity. He scored a career-defining 137 off 260 deliveries to guide the Aussies to 416/8 in the first innings.

Khawaja got a lucky reprieve when he was on 28 as England skipper Joe Root dropped a simple chance off a Jack Leach delivery in the slip cordon. The stylish left-hander made the most of the opportunity by smashing his first Test hundred since February of 2019.

Here’s how social media reacted to Khawaja's comeback ton:

Khawaja first stitched a 115-run stand with vice-captain Steve Smith, who made a 141-ball 67.

A flurry of wickets during the middle session courtesy of Stuart Broad meant that Australia found themselves reeling at 285/6 at one stage. However, Khawaja anchored the ship till the end of the innings. He found valuable support from skipper Cummins (24 off 47 balls), Mitchell Starc (34 not out off 60 balls) and Nathan Lyon, who stayed unbeaten on a 7-ball 16.

"He was definitely a bit nervous leading into the game for sure" - Usman Khawaja's wife

Khawaja’s celebration after he got past the 100-run-mark was a reflection of how much the feat meant to him. Having scored heaps of runs in domestic cricket in the lead-up to the international summer, it was always a question of when and not will, when it came getting a chance once again to showcase his talent.

Khawaja finally got a chance in this Test match after Travis Head was ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19.

His wife Rachael led the celebrations as she threw their baby up in the air the moment Usman reached the milestone. Speaking to Fox Cricket, Mrs. Khawaja revealed that Usman was pretty nervous leading into the Test match. She said:

"Oh my goodness. It is pretty incredible. It was so unexpected. We didn’t even think he would be playing this game. Then to go from that to scoring a hundred, wow.”

She added:

"He was definitely a bit nervous leading into the game for sure. More than I expected. But I think once he had that final net session the day before, he felt a bit better."

Australia tightened their grip on the fourth Test match as England finished the day at 13/0 with a huge mountain to climb on Day Three.