Australia defeated England in the first Test of the Ashes Series at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The bowlers have made merry throughout the Test match, with 19 wickets (England’s 10, Australia’s 9) falling on Day 1. Day 2 was no different, after Australia were nowled out early, and England too lost all their wickets before tea.
However, Travis Head wowed Perth with some explosive batting as he got the pitch out of the equation. He managed to create history wth a smashing century in the fourth innings.
Travis Head smashed 123 from 83 deliveries in a whirlwind knock that got Australia past the finishing line. He brought up his century in 69 balls. This was the fastest century in the fourth innings in the history of Test Cricket. He breaks the record of England’s Gilbert Jessop, who smashed a 76-ball ton in the fourth innings against Australia in the 1902 Ashes.
Travis Head Breaks Jonny Bairstow’s World Record
Head scored his runs at a strike rate of 148.19, the highest by any batter in a successful run chase in a Test match. He breaks the record of Jonny Bairstow who scored a hundred at a strike rate of 147.82 vs New Zealand in 2022.
Here are the players with the highest striker rate in a successful run chase in Test Cricke history
148.19 – Travis Head vs ENG, 2025
147.82 – Jonny Bairstow vs NZ, 2022
132.14 – Nathan Astle vs ENG, 2002
128.42 – Shahid Afridi vs WI, 2005
Head also becomes the first batter in history to smash two hundreds under 85 balls in the history of the Ashes.
‘Feels Special’
Travis Head got visibly emotional after scoring the century. He expressed how special it felt scoring the match-winning century.
“Wow, what a couple of days. It’s been unbelievable. The emotions are pretty high. They (England) were seriously good out there yesterday and started to drag it back, so we knew we couldn’t afford to let the game slip. To be able to contribute the way I did – yeah, it feels pretty special,” Head said.