Perth: Travis Head flipped the narrative and dominated the England pace bowlers with one of the great centuries in Ashes cricket Saturday as Australia raced to an eight-wicket victory with three days to spare in the first Test.
Head turned England’s attack-at-all-costs “Bazball” tactics back on the visitors, clobbering a century from 69 deliveries after being promoted up the order to open the innings when Usman Khawaja was injured.
“That innings from Travis Head was out of this world,” Australia captain Steve Smith said.
In three innings across five sessions, fast bowlers were right on top as 30 wickets fell for 468 runs in 113 overs at Perth — 19 on a chaotic Day 1 and 11 before the tea interval on Day 2.
Set 205 to win, Head plundered 123 from 83 balls, clobbering boundaries to all parts of the ground as he hit the rope 16 times and cleared it on four occasions. Australian media reported it was the first time since 1921 that an Ashes Test was won in two days.
Head was eventually caught in the outfield, trying to rush the victory, with Australia just 13 runs short.
Marnus Labuschagne levelled the scores with a six and was unbeaten on 51 when Australia reached 205-2.
England captain Ben Stokes said his team was “a little bit shell shocked,” and described Head’s innings as “phenomenal.”
The result, he said, “obviously hurts extremely, but then we’ve got to get our heads around it and move on.”
Australia extended its unbeaten run in home Ashes Tests to 16. England hasn’t won a test in Australia since winning the 2010-11 series.
England was on top for most of the first four sessions but lost control with a batting collapse after the lunch interval on Day 2.
Stokes won the toss, batted and England was skittled for 172, with veteran Australian paceman Mitchell Starc leading an under-strength bowling attack with a career-best 7-58.
Australia was then bowled out for 132, giving England a 40-run first innings lead, with Stokes snaring a five-wicket haul after some early fireworks from express bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
In its second innings, England was cruising at 65-1 until the big momentum shift. From 76-2, England lost three wickets without scoring and slid to be all out for 164.
That left Australia with 3 1/3 days to chase a modest victory target. Head achieved it in one session with the third-fastest test century ever by an Australian.
The statistics suggested the Perth Stadium pitch was playing like a minefield for most of the first two days.
Starc had 10 wickets for the match including the 7-58 in the first innings, starting Day 2 with a spectacular return catch to remove Zac Crawley and also removing Joe Root and Stokes as England was dismissed for 164 in its second innings.
England lost three wickets without scoring in a momentum-shifting spell after lunch.
Australia’s Scott Boland had Ollie Pope (33) caught behind and Harry Brook (0) caught at slip in the space of four balls. Two balls later, Starc removed Root (8) for the second time in the match.
Pope, Brook and Root were all out trying the same thing: needlessly reaching to play expansive drives.
And it could have been worse for England, but Khawaja dropped a regulation catch off Jamie Smith at slip before he’d scored.
Starc then dismissed Stokes (2) to really send a tremor through the England lineup at 88-6, collecting his 10th wicket for the match.
Gus Atkinson (37) and Brydon Carse (20) joined with the total at 104-7 and put on 50 in quick time to ensure a 200-plus chase for the Aussies.
The seventh England wicket to fall was dramatic, with the TV umpire taking four minutes to review the dismissal over-and-over to determine if Jamie Smith’s glove or bat touched a delivery from Brendan Doggett as it carried down legside to the wicketkeeper.
Smith started walking off but stopped as the TV umpire checked the “snicko” meter time and time again.
Head, fielding at short-leg, had appealed confidently for the nick, but the on-field umpire initially gave it not out. The decision is sure to spark some debate among rival fans.
Starc’s stunning catch to dismiss Crawley for a pair — ducks in each innings — was the highlight of a comparatively mild morning session Saturday. He removed the England opener in the first over of the second innings a day after dismissing him in the first over of the match.
Starc was fully into his follow-through after a delivering a ball at around 140 kph (87 mph) and had the athletic ability to lunge to his left and take the catch at full stretch just above ground level to remove Crawley. He was awarded player of the match.
The second Test in the five-match series starts December 4 at the Gabba in Brisbane. AP SSC
