Travis Head century destroys England as Australia win first Ashes Test in Perth

Travis Head plundered a dazzling century off 69 balls in one session to guide Australia to a famous eight-wicket win in Perth after England’s batsmen faltered for the second time in a match that will live long in the memory.

Australia will go into the second Test in Brisbane with a 1-0 series lead and record an emphatic victory within two days to deal a hammer blow to England’s hopes of reclaiming the Ashes after reaching 2-205 in just 28.2 overs.

For a player who had made just 167 runs across all cricket formats over the last three months, it was a return to form of epic proportions and an innings that will go down as one of the greatest Ashes performances in history.

Following a 10-wicket haul from player of the match Mitchell Starc, ‘Travball’ overtook ‘Bazball’ in a thrilling afternoon of cricket as the dominant left-hander took 123 from 83 balls in front of a stunned 49,983 spectators to push Australia towards the target of 205.

It was the equal sixth-fastest century in Test history and the equal third-fastest century by balls faced by an Australian since Adam Gilchrist’s superb 57-ball tonnade in 2006 and David Warner’s 69-ball effort in Perth in 2011.

With Australia just 13 points away from victory, his header caught deep on the leg side and he left the field to a standing ovation. Marnus Labuschagne (51 off 49 balls not out) put in an outstanding performance as Steve Smith hit the winning run through cover.

Head followed up his century in the 2023 World Test Championship final and his century in the ODI World Cup that year to underline his status as a big-game player.

Despite Usman Khawaja failing to open for the second time in the match due to a back spasm after playing three consecutive rounds of golf this week, Head put his hand up with debutant Jake Weatherald (23) and potentially cemented his place there for the rest of the series with one of the most flamboyant and devastating knocks of the Ashes.