Travis Head smashed an explosive 69-ball century (123) and pacer Mitchell Starc bagged a ten-wicket haul as Australia crushed England by eight wickets in the opening Ashes Test, chasing down 205 runs to win the game in just two days.
Travis Head lit up the Optus Stadium with his explosive 69-ball ton while pacer Mitchell Starc’s ten-wicket haul was another standout as Australia registered a thumping victory by eight wickets against England in the opening Ashes Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday. It was a completely dominant display by the hosts, who won the game in just two days and took a 1-0 lead.
Head’s Rampage Seals Two-Day Victory
During the run-chase of 205 runs starting in the final session, openers Travis Head and Jake Weatherald came for the chase, with Usman Khawaja once again not coming to open. In the fourth and fifth overs, both Head and Weatherald scored their first boundaries, sending out signals of a storm to come.
In the eighth over, Head slammed Brydon Carse for a ramped six over slips and then a four, upping the ante. Another six flying over Ben Duckett over third man by Head brought Australia to their 50-run mark in just 9.3 overs. Aussies were 58/0 at the end of 10 overs, with Weatherald (18*) and Head (38*) unbeaten and the latter being the aggressor.
Even Mark Wood’s express pace was not safe from Head’s onslaught, smashed four for a six over fine leg, then a four to conclude the over. The partnership lasted 75 runs as Carse produced a breakthrough for England, removing Weatherald for a 34-ball 23 with three fours. Head completed his half-century in just 36 balls, with three fours and three sixes.
In the 17th over by skipper Ben Stokes, Head brutalised him with a hat-trick of fours, bringing up the 100-run mark in 16.3 overs and scoring a total of four boundaries in the overs, looting a total of 17 runs. Marnus Labuschagne and Head continued this spectacle of aggressive Test batting, effectively reversing England’s ‘Bazball’ card on themselves, not even sparing Jofra Archer.
He was smashed for two fours and a six and conceded 16 runs in his 19th over. At the end of 20 overs, Australia was 136/1, with Head (92*) and Labuschagne (18*) unbeaten, having put up a 61-run stand, with 43 of them coming from Head.
Head continued his onslaught, bringing up his century in 69 balls, the second-fastest in Ashes history after legendary Adam Gilchrist’s 57-ball ton at Perth back in 2007. His knock consisted of 12 fours and four sixes till that point. After smashing the second-fastest century in Ashes history, Head continued his onslaught, ripping apart a strong England bowling attack.
The left-handed batter hammered three boundaries against Gus Atkinson in the 26th over as the 100-run stand came up in just 85 deliveries for the second wicket. A boundary from Labuschagne brought down the 150-run mark in 22.2 overs, as he danced around the crease to play a cracking shot.
In the next over, Head hammered two boundaries against Brydon Carse, before the England speedster removed the Australian opener for 123 runs off 83 deliveries, including 16 fours and four sixes.
Labuschagne reached his well-deserved fifty in just 49 deliveries after he smashed a huge six against Joe Root in the last ball of the 28th over. Australia chased down the 205-run target in 28.2 overs with captain Steve Smith hitting the winning runs. The hosts thrashed the Three Lions in the opening Test at Perth, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
England’s Second Innings Collapse
At the end of the second session’s play, England was bundled out for 164. They had earlier bundled out Australia for 132 in response to their first innings total of 172. Gus Atkinson (37) top-scored for England, putting up a 50-run stand for the eighth-wicket with Brydon Carse (20). Starc completed a memorable ten-wicket haul in the match, while after a wicketless first innings, Boland looked threatening, taking four crucial, quick wickets.
England started the second session at 59/1, with Ben Duckett (28*) and Ollie Pope (24*) unbeaten, leading by 99 runs. Pope made his positive intentions known with a drive square of the wicket right in the first over against Cam Green, taking England’s lead to above 100 runs.
However, England received two quick setbacks as both of them were dismissed in quick succession to Scott Boland, with Duckett being caught by Smith in the slips for a 40-ball 28, consisting of three fours. Pope was caught behind by keeper Alex Carey for 33 in 57 balls, with two fours. England was three down for 76 runs in 18.3 overs.
In the same over, Boland got Harry Brook’s wicket as he carelessly nicked the delivery to Usman Khawaja in slips, making it three wickets in quick succession for him. In the next over, Mitchell Starc castled Joe Root for just eight runs. Root, who was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, went for a drive, but an inside edge off his bat crashed into the stumps. England was 76/5 in 19.2 overs, in a massive soup.
Skipper Ben Stokes had just started building a partnership with Jamie Smith, but Starc got the ‘Bazball’ commander-in-chief for a sluggish 11-ball 2. Starc completed his ten-wicket haul and also got Stokes’ wicket for the 11th time in Test cricket. England was 6/88 in 24.4 overs.
England crossed the 100-run mark in 26.2 overs, but Jamie Smith (15) perished to Brendan Doggett, leaving England in trouble at 104/7, with a lead of 153 runs.
The tailenders Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse put on a valuable half-century partnership, with Carse unleashing his big hits against the pace trio of Starc, Boland and Doggett. The 150-run mark was up for England in 32.3 overs. Doggett ended the 50-run stand, getting Carse caught behind for 20 in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes. England was 154/8 in 33.1 overs.
In the same over, he got Jofra Archer for five, who took England’s lead to 200 runs with a slap through cover region. Boland ended England’s innings, removing Atkinson for a fighting 37 in 32 balls, with two fours and two sixes. England was skittled out for 164, leading by 204 runs and setting the Aussies 205 runs to win the first Test. Boland (4/33) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia, while Doggett (3/51) and Starc (3/55) also were among the wickets. At the end of the first session’s play, England was 59/1, with Duckett (28*) and Pope (24*) unbeaten.
Australia’s First Innings Struggles
Earlier, Australia started the day two at 123/9, with Brendan Doggett and Nathan Lyon on the crease, unbeaten at 3* and 0* respectively. Lyon and Doggett rotated strike to eat further into the deficit, but a fine catch from Ben Duckett at gully ended Australia’s inning at 132 in 45.2 overs, and they trailed by 40 runs.
Skipper Ben Stokes (5/23) was the leading wicket-taker for England, getting crucial wickets of Travis Head (21 in 35 balls, with a four) and Cameron Green (24 in 50 balls, with two fours), who were putting on a partnership after the Aussies were restricted to 31/4. However, it was a pace and bounce exhibition from Brydon Carse (3/45) and Jofra Archer (2/11), which gave early jitters to Australians, as they lost debutant opener Jake Weatherald (0), Marnus Labuschagne (9), Steve Smith (17) and Usman Khawaja (2) quickly. Leading by 40 runs, England were at an advantage.
It was upto openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett to stretch that advantage as far as possible in terms of runs. But a brilliant one-handed grab from Mitchell Starc gave England another first-over jolt and Crawley a pair of ducks. England was 0/1 in 0.5 overs.
The pair of Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett stabilised the innings yet again. The left-handed Duckett showed the first signs of aggression, getting a boundary each against Starc and Boland. The duo kept collecting runs with some intelligent strike rotation, with some fine hits falling short of reaching the fence due to the slow outfield, as suggested by four threes collected by Pope. The half-century stand came for the duo in 10.1 overs. Duckett survived a close leg-before-wicket call on the final ball of the session, ending the session without any further loss of wickets.
Day One Recap
On day one, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite Ben Duckett (21 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) showing some fine intent and touch, England had slipped to 39/3, with their star batter Joe Root being removed for a duck by Starc as well. A half-century stand between Ollie Pope (46 in 58 balls, with four boundaries) and Harry Brook stabilised things for England, but they lost half their team at 115 runs. Later, Brook (52 in 61 balls, with five fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (33 in 22 balls, with six fours) tried to counter-attack, but Starc (7/58) and Doggett (2/27) put a lid on England’s scoring, who were also committing batting harakiri with some questionable shot selection. England was undone for 172 runs in 32.5 overs.
Brief Scores
Brief Scores: Australia: 132 and 205-2 (Travis Head 123, Marnus Labuschagne 51, Ben Stokes 5/23) vs England: 172 and 164 (Gus Atkinson 37, Ollie Pope 33, Scott Boland 4/33). (ANI)
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