Australian opener Usman Khawaja suffered a blow on his chin on Shamar Joseph's bouncer which left the veteran southpaw spitting blood on the ground. He left the ground after the hit and was sent to the hospital with the medical staff. (More Cricket News)
The incident happened minutes before Australia won the first match by 10 wickets. The scores were level and Australia needed just one run to win when Shamar Joseph, who also took a fifer in the first inning, bowled a sharp bouncer. Khawaja missed the line and the ball hit on his chin and helmet damaging his jaw. Concussion tests were done and Khawaja chose to leave the field.
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He was later taken to the hospital, where he was cleared of the broken jaw. Medical staff will continue to monitor him for the next 24 hours for delayed concussion symptoms. He will be tested again after 24 hours and if concussed, will be ruled out of the next Test match starting from 25th January. Matthew Renshaw will open the batting along with Steve Smith for Australia if Khawaja misses the second match due to injury.
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However, Khawaja took on social media to share his well-being and jokingly said, he left the field because he wanted Marnus Labuschagne to hit the winning runs. Australia captain Pat Cummins didn't say much on his injury update and only said, "He seems okay but will be monitored".
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Australia won the first match easily with 10 wickets after West Indies set the 26-run target. When Khawaja was retired hurt, Australia needed just one run and Marnus took a single to finish the match early on Day 3.
It was the debut match of pacer Shamar Joseph, who claimed the wicket of Steve Smith as his maiden Test wicket. He grabbed a five-wicket haul in the first innings and also played crucial knocks of 36 off 41 & 15 off 12 in the match.
