Oz begin onslaught

Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns hammered centuries as Australia again put the West Indies to the sword on the opening day of the second Test in Melbourne on Saturday.

Fit-again Khawaja hit 144 for his third ton in four Test innings and opener Burns cracked 128 for his second Test hundred of the season as the Australians reached 345 for three at stumps after being sent into bat.

Skipper Steve Smith was unbeaten on 32 with Hobart Test double centurion Adam Voges on 10.

Before the lowest Boxing Day crowd of 53,389 at the MCG in 16 years, Australia made Windies skipper Jason Holder pay dearly for sending the home side into bat after winning the toss.

"I'll enjoy this moment, a hundred in my first Boxing Day Test, a 250-odd run partnership with Burnsy. I couldn't have asked for a lot more on day one," Khawaja said.

Khawaja's runs came off 227 balls in 331 minutes with just six fours and a six.
 

SCORES IN BRIEF

AUSTRALIA: First innings 345-3 (Burns 128, Khawaja 144; Taylor 2-83)