Australia's Khawaja keeps near miss in perspective

ISLAMABAD : Australia opener Usman Khawaja narrowly missed out on what would have been a memorable hundred in Pakistan on Sunday but the 35-year-old considers himself lucky just to be playing in the country of his birth.

Khawaja's breezy 97 led Australia's robust reply to Pakistan's 476-4 declared in the opening test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The excitement was building up for what would have been his third test hundred in five innings but the Islamabad-born left-hander bungled a reverse sweep, a short that otherwise proved particularly productive, to fall short.

"It's disappointing. Cricket is a funny game, it's just three runs," Khawaja told reporters after Australia finished day three on 271-2.

"You bat so well for 97 and then you get out, you're don't get a hundred.

"You come back into the change rooms and it probably feels worse than getting a 20 in some respects.

"I would have loved a hundred out here in Rawalpindi, down the road from where I grew up."

The left-hander made a successful return to test cricket in the Sydney Ashes test against England in January.

Playing his first test in more than two years, Khawaja, batting at number five, smashed a century in each innings.

"To put it in perspective, I wasn't even in the Australian team a few months ago. So I'm very grateful to be here," he said.

Khawaja said most of his relatives were in Karachi, which hosts the second test from Mar. 12.