Australia centurion Shane Watson was relieved to finally break his century drought, scoring 176 at The Oval on Wednesday, and then gave credit to England bowler Stuart Broad, of all people.

Broad had struck Watson on the head with an 88kph bouncer, with his score on 91. This felled the big Aussie, as it hit him behind the ear, and Watson said the blow took away his nerves about getting his first ton in 25 Tests.

Watson told the BBC at stumps, where Australia were 307 for four: "A century is something I have searched for for a long time. Getting hit on the head helped me because it took my mind off getting through the nineties.

One man who was glad to see stumps called was Lancashire spinner Simon Kerrigan, who suffered at the hands of Watson. Kerrigan, making his Test debut, was smashed for 28 runs in his first two overs, including six fours.

Watson said of the young spinner: "I faced Simon Kerrigan in the tour match at Northampton (against the second-string England Lions) last week and I knew what to expect."

The all-rounder survived a few lucky moments, being dropped by Alastair Cook in the slips for one. But he was given out LBW with his score on 166, but he made a rare correct DRS decision and the call was overturned, as it was too high.

Watto admitted: "I thought the lbw decision was going to be umpire's call when I reviewed it, but I'm not a good umpire -- I usually get it wrong."

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