The contest only lasted 30 hours, making it the shortest Test match on Australian soil since 1932. The last time an Ashes Test finished inside two days was in 1921.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel bad for the 60,000 that were due to come in tomorrow,\u201d Head laughed after the match.<\/p>\n
Watch The Ashes 2025\/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. <\/a><\/p>\n Chasing what appeared to be an awkward 205-run target victory, Australia got the job done in just 28.2 overs, ticking along at a blistering tempo of 7.24 runs per over. Head, elevated to opener in the absence of the injured Usman Khawaja, clobbered 16 boundaries and four sixes during his swashbuckling knock, combining with Marnus Labuschagne for a 117-run partnership for the second wicket.<\/p>\n The Ashes: Test 1, Day Two Highlights | 14:46<\/p>\n Asked about the promotion, Head replied: \u201cI was happy to do it, it doesn\u2019t bother me too much.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pretty keen to do it. Luckily they let me.\u201d<\/p>\n Australian captain Steve Smith later admitted that veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who was battling a minor hip injury after copping a body blow during the morning session, was considered for the opener role.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we made the right decision in the end,\u201d Smith laughed during the post-match presentation.<\/p>\n MORE CRICKET NEWS<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS: Travball beats Bazball at own game after 137-yr fail <\/a><\/p>\n \u2018GAVE IT AWAY\u2019: England star\u2019s costly act as Poms fume over controversial review<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018UNDER THE COSH\u2019: Pressure mounts on Uzzie amid golf revelation<\/a><\/p>\n INJURY UPDATE: Cummins\u2019 big reveal amid Aussies\u2019 Gabba Hazlewood blow<\/a><\/p>\n Counter Punch! – Head scores ICONIC 123 | 06:47<\/p>\n Fastest Test hundreds for Australia<\/p>\n 57 \u2014 Adam Gilchrist vs ENG, WACA, 2006<\/p>\n 67 \u2014 Jack Gregory vs SA, Johannesburg, 1921<\/p>\n 69 \u2014 David Warner vs IND, WACA, 2012<\/p>\n 69 \u2014 Travis Head vs ENG, Perth Stadium, 2025<\/p>\n Head passed triple figures in just 69 deliveries, the equal third-fastest century by an Australian in Tests, a performance that will prompt speculation on whether he should stay at the top of the order for the remainder of the series.<\/p>\n Nobody else in the match has managed more than 52 \u2014 it was as though he was batting on a completely different pitch from the one that had just seen 30 wickets fall across five sessions.<\/p>\n \u201cIntimidating place to bat, it gives you some sleepless nights with the cracks,\u201d Head said of the Perth deck.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gets pretty scary.<\/p>\n \u201cNice to get the job done early and not have to bat on day four or five.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if he could have imagined hitting that century considering the pitch\u2019s behaviour on day one, Head replied: \u201cS*** no.\u201d<\/p>\n “Sh*t no” – Head reacts to Ashes hundred | 04:06<\/p>\n Earlier on Saturday, fast bowlers Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc flipped the match on its head by ripping through England\u2019s middle order during a frantic afternoon session that featured nine wickets.<\/p>\n Seemingly cruising at 1-65, England\u2019s commanding lead disappeared during a dramatic 19-ball collapse of 4-11, with poor shot selection and lazy execution to blame.<\/p>\n The tourists were ultimately bowled out for 164 in 34.4 overs \u2014 Boland finished with 4-33, while Starc, named player of the match, snared three scalps to secure his third ten-wicket haul in Tests.<\/p>\n \u201cHe bowled like a genius,\u201d Smith said of Starc.<\/p>\n Vaughan slams Poms’ poor decisions | 04:05<\/p>\n Speaking during the post-match presentation, England captain Ben Stokes confessed the tourists were \u201ca little bit shell-shocked\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThat innings from Head was pretty phenomenal. That was some knock,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he\u2019s going like that … he\u2019s very hard to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very tough one to get the series going, when we felt like we were in control of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got four more games here. It hurts extremely, but then we\u2019ve got to move on to Brisbane.\u201d<\/p>\n Stokes also defended England\u2019s batting style<\/a>, adding: \u201cThe guys who found success out on that wicket were the ones who looked to take the bowlers on.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guys who were brave enough to knock the bowlers off their lengths seemed to find success.\u201d<\/p>\n 9\/105! England Collapse after lunch | 04:20<\/p>\n Earlier, England\u2019s second innings got off to a disastrous start when Starc removed opener Zak Crawley for a fifth-ball duck with a stunning piece of athleticism. Lunging at full stretch to his left, the 35-year-old held onto a one-handed return catch while almost parallel to the turf<\/a>, his 25th dismissal in the first over of a Test innings.<\/p>\n Crawley, who also copped a duck on Friday, became the first England opener to bag a pair in a Test match since 1999.<\/p>\n Starc’s simply absurd one-handed snare | 00:38<\/p>\n Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope rebuilt the innings with a 65-run partnership for the second wicket, aided by some sloppy overthrows from the Australians. On the final delivery before lunch, Duckett successfully overturned an LBW shout that pitched marginally outside leg stump, denying Boland his first wicket of the match.<\/p>\n But the Victorian wreaked havoc with the Kookaburra after the interval, with Duckett, Pope and the dangerous Harry Brook each edging towards the slips cordon. Pope and Brook, evidently still adjusting to Australia\u2019s bouncy decks, were both guilty of needlessly wafting at wide deliveries with a diagonal bat.<\/p>\n Starc joined the party at the other end, with superstar Joe Root chopping on for 8 to silence the Barmy Army and bring the match back in the balance.<\/p>\n Starc strikes as Root goes cheap again | 00:56<\/p>\n Later in the same over, England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was handed a massive reprieve on 0 when the under-fire Khawaja dropped a regulation chance at first slip, infuriating Starc. <\/p>\n But the left-hander didn\u2019t have to wait long for his tenth scalp of the match, removing Stokes for 2, with captain Steve Smith swallowing a low catch at second slip. It was the 11th time that Starc has dismissed Stokes in Tests, a feat only Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has achieved more often.<\/p>\n Starc takes his 10th Wicket of the match | 00:59<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763806450_225_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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