Carey, Khawaja shine on an opening day of twists

Steve Smith's absence hung over the first morning of the Adelaide Test in a way nobody had quite anticipated.

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Not absence in the abstract sense of poor form or being left out, but actual physical absence as Australia's talismanic batter and captain of the last two Tests, simply wasn't there. He'd come out before play, tried to go through his usual meticulous pre-match routine, felt the dizziness that had been troubling him persist, and made a decision. He walked off, back to the hotel, and that was that.What Smith's late withdrawal meant was that Usman Khawaja, dropped from the squad only the evening before, found himself padding up at No.4 on the eve of his 39th birthday. This has been the pattern of his career for years now: thinking it's over, getting another chance, then making it count to keep the motor thrumming. In Sydney three years ago he thought he was done, before twin hundreds resurrected everything and gave him another lease on a Test career.

Wednesday wasn't quite that, even if it was still dramatic. Harry Brook dropped him early, a straightforward chance put down when Khawaja was on 5, and on a pitch that was good and true under the bright Adelaide sun, there was a hundred for the taking. Khawaja made a solid 82, which was important and defining in its way, steadying the innings when steadying was needed, but the hundred that seemed inevitable didn't arrive.