Ashes | Dizzying 69-ball Travis Head ton dooms England to nine-wicket loss in all-time Perth classic

‌Brief score: AUS 205/2 [Head 123, Labuschagne ; Carse 2/43] & 132 defeat ENG 172 & 161 [Atkinson 37, Pope 33; Boland 4/33] by eight wickets

Resuming from an overnight score of 123/9, Australian tailenders Brendan Doggett and Nathan Lyon lasted six further overs on the morning of Day 2 and added nine rins to their total before Brydon Carse scalped his third of the game to earn England a 3-run lead heading into their second bat. However, ominous signs presented themselves early when Mitchell Starc took a wondrous diving one-handed return catch to earn yet another first-over wicket and resign Zak Crawley to a pair for the game. Alongwith Scott Boland, the left-arm quick put up an exhibition of new-ball bowling but Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope stood resolute, not shy to put away any bad balls and some good balls for four as they survived through to Lunch at 59/1.

The break ended up doing the hosts a massive favour as they completely seized momentum in the second session with a slew of wickets. Duckett became the first to fall in Boland's first over post-Lunch courtesy of a thick edge to second slip, ending the opener''s stay for 28. The Victorian then removed Harry Brook in his next over with another thick edge through to the keeper, before getting rid of Harry Brook three balls later in similar fashion. Starc joined the party with an inducker to sound Joe Root the death rattle, followed by Ben Stokes edging to second slip as the tourists slipped from 65/1 to 88/6 in a matter of minutes. Jamie Smith tried to counter as the team's last recognized batter but a controversial call upstairs ruled him out caught behind to push England further into misery. However, Gus Atkinson (37) and Brydon Carse (20) fought back by swinging for the hills, the duo combining for four maximums in a rapid half-century stand to get England past 150 at the stroke of Tea. The celebrations did not last long though as Brendan Doggett claimed two scalps in the space of five deliveries before Boland had Atkinson hole out to end the innings on 164, the duo scalping three each as Aussies found themselves needing 205 to win.

The hosts suffered an early setback when Usman Khawaja was yet again deemed not fit to open with recurring back spasms, forcing Travis Head to take over the mantle with Jake Weatherald. A searing start from Jofra Archer and Atkinson further pinned down the bowlers' domination in the encounter, until Head decided enough was enough. The veteran went hard at a Carse bumper in the eighth over to top-edge the ball for six, before smashing a length ball through the covers for four more and seize momentum. It was only the beginning as Head struck Carse for six more in his next over before greeting Mark Wood into the attack with a six and a four. Weatherald tried to cash in with a couple of intermittent boundaries himself but eventually top-edged a ball onto his helmet to hand cover a sitter and break the 75-run opening stand. Unfettered, Head brought up a 36-ball half-century and once the first-innings hero Ben Stokes brought himself on, the opener simply swithced gears. Head played out a maiden to begin but more than compensated with a hattrick of fours in Stokes' next effort, before adding another boundary two balls later for good measure. The re-introduction of Archer yielded similar results as Head slapped him straight back over his head for a scintillating maximum, adding to the two fours Australia had already scored in the over. Three more boundaries against Atkinson followed before a single had the entirety of Perth at its feet to commend a 69-ball ton, the joint-third fastest in Aussie history. Meanwhile, Labuschagne had taken advantage of the chaos at the other end to quietly tick into the 30s himself as the stand neared the century mark and triggered a half hour extension as less than 50 runs remained to victory. It was all the fuel Labuschagne needed as he borrowed some of Head's flavour with an egregious slap through midwicket against a rising bumper to beat several boundary riders. Australia were just 13 away from victory when Head finally holed out, but Labuschagne took care of business in style with a four and six to bring up his own fifty and seal the game with eight wickets to spare.  

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