Australian batsman Usman Khawaja says it would be “harsh” for his side to declare their third Test against South Africa and deny him the chance to claim his first Test double century.

Rain stopped all play on the third day of the final Test in Sydney on Friday. This has been a one-sided series in favour of the hosts.

Before Saturday’s fourth day, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins has to decide whether to declare the team’s first innings over at 475-4 and let the Proteas bat or give Khawaja a chance to make a historic double century.

Khawaja can’t get off of 195. Matt Renshaw, who tested positive for Covid at the beginning of the match, is still on the field with five runs.

“I think it’d be pretty harsh if he (Cummins) bowled straight away. I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Khawaja told reporters after another frustrating day in the rain-hit match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“He’s been making a few jokes… (saying) ‘I’ve let (South African skipper) Dean Elgar know that we want to go out and have a bowl straight away’.

“We could go out there and get a few more runs really quickly or we could declare pretty much straight away. I’m not the captain… I don’t make those decisions,” said the batsman.

Photo by EPA/DEAN LEWINS