The 1st Ashes Test in Perth lasted just two days as host Australia got the better of England in a dramatic contest. The Kangaroos ran over a wasteful and at times, a clueless England to beat the visitors by 8 wickets. Travis Head scored a century to remember for the ages.
England started batting in the 2nd innings with a healthy lead of 40 over the Aussies. Zak Crawley scored his second duck of the match with Mitch Starc getting him in the first over with an outrageous caught and bowled. The Australians were not going away.
Ben Duckett and Pope steadied the innings with some fine strokes, but as they began to gain ascendancy in the contest, Scott Boland, who had been struggling with his rhythm in the match, turned the course of the game on its head. He accounted for Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope and then got Harry Brook for a duck.
The 3 quick wickets had hit England hard, but more pain was on the way. Mitch Starc returned to get Joe Root and Ben Stokes. From a decent 65-1, England had plummeted to a disastrous 88-6. The situation could well have been avoided if the English batters had thrown some caution to the wind, but they continued to throw away their wickets.
Jamie Smith, playing his first Ashes, didn’t last long after a questionable DRS verdict went against him. Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse added 50 crucial runs before the English folded for 164, setting a challenging target of 205 for the Aussies.
With Khawaja not fit enough, Travis Head came out to open with Weatherald, which turned out to be a masterstroke by Australia. Head launched a scathing attack on the English bowlers, putting them completely off line. He cut, drove and pulled with great audacity, crunching the ball with his power and timing. He raced to a 50 in no time, pushing England on to the back foot.
Though Australia lost Weatherald, Head was in no mood to lift his foot off the pedal as he accelerated with his trademark strokes all around the field. The game slipped away from England as the bowlers struggled for answers against Head’s onslaught.
The Southpaw reached his 100 in the company of Marnus Labuschagne and received a standing ovation. He had single handedly annihilated the target and made it look mediocre. Travis Head finally holed out for a superb 123 of just 83 balls, decorated with 16 fours and 4 sixes and in the process had played one of the finest innings ever witnessed in an Ashes series.
Marnus Labuschagne scored a well deserved 50 and Australia romped home with 8 wickets to spare, with Mitch Starc for his incredible figures of 10 for 113 in the match, received the POTM award.
Though the match ended in two days, it gave the fans some tremendous edge-of-the-seat entertainment akin to a fast-paced action thriller.
There is a lot to look forward to, as the 2nd test begins on the 4th of December in Brisbane.
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