Australia 132 and 205 for 2 (Head 123, Labuschagne 51*, Carse 2-44) beat England 172 and 164 (Atkinson 37, Boland 4-33, Starc 3-55) by eight wickets
Skipper Steven Smith hit the winning run to trigger scenes of jubilation for an Australian team that was staring down the barrel earlier in the day.
Head’s cavalier batting gave England a taste of their own medicine, as he reached his ton off 69 balls – the equal third fastest by an Australian in Tests. England’s all-out pace attack, so ferocious just 24 hours earlier, appeared shell-shocked as Head continually flayed wayward bowling through the off-side much to the delight of many in the 49,983 crowd.
Head opened the batting after Usman Khawaja had been continually off the ground in England’s innings due to back spasms. He had previously opened the innings for Australia eight times, but all had been in South Asia.
Head clearly enjoyed his promotion and helped ease the pressure on debutant Jake Weatherald, who fell for a second-ball duck in the first innings. Weatherald was able to play himself in and unfurled several attractive strokes of his own before falling on 23 to a short ball from Brydon Carse.
Head was unstoppable and fearless, taking on the short-pitched bowling from Mark Wood, while he also bludgeoned Ben Stokes for four boundaries off an over. Head’s century was met with mighty applause from the Australian fans, but his own celebration was fairly low-key although punctuated by several steely fistbumps.
He finally holed out with Australia needing just 13 runs to win, but the result had long been a formality.
It was an astonishing turn of events after England were 65 for 1 in their second innings, with a lead of 105, before Boland triggered a collapse with the tourists losing 4-11 in 19 balls.
England lost 9-99 during the second session that may ultimately haunt them in their quest to regain the Ashes. Four of England’s top six nicked off, while Joe Root completed a double failure after inside edging Starc, having attempted an extravagant drive.
The pressure had been on Boland after he was collared in England’s first innings, finishing with 0-62 from 10 overs. He pulled back his length in the second innings and had Ben Duckett caught at second slip to end his 65-run stand with Ollie Pope – the biggest partnership to that point of the match.
Boland then had Pope and Harry Brook edging behind the wicket in his next over as he displayed the type of inimitable rhythm that has propelled him to scythe through numerous batting line-ups over the years.
Starc had been unable to consistently summon his top speed, backing up so quickly after recording his career best figures of 7-58 in England’s first innings. Sensing the shift in momentum, Smith wisely brought Starc back on and he responded by knocking over Root before continuing his domination of Stokes.
There was little resistance from England, evoking many such collapses on Australian soil over the years, until Carse and Gus Atkinson counterattacked for a 47-run partnership. They took advantage of Australia resorting to a short-ball tactic in the only bright spot for England in a miserable session.
But the short-ball strategy finally paid off as Doggett wrapped up the innings and finished with five wickets in his Test debut.
In what felt like an eternity ago, England had started the second day in the ascendency. Under overcast skies, Australia resumed on 123 for 9 and were still reeling from England’s sustained pressure that blew them away on day one. But Doggett and Nathan Lyon did manage to hang around for 26 minutes, whittling the deficit by nine runs.
Wood bowled too short and was unable to muster the same hostility he produced on day one marked by a ferocious delivery that battered the helmet of Cameron Green.
Stokes turned to Carse who claimed his third wicket by dismissing Lyon in the gully as England claimed a 40-run advantage on the first innings even though Australia batted 12.3 overs longer.
After tearing through England’s tail in the first innings, Starc entered on a hat-trick and charged into Zak Crawley who he dismissed for a duck on the sixth ball of the match.
Crawley could only last five balls after spooning an attempted drive to Starc, who showcased extraordinary athleticism to stick out his left-hand and pluck a return catch.
Sharfuddoula, the third umpire, had a long look but Starc’s fingers were underneath the ball as Crawley walked off having made a pair. There will be much focus on Crawley’s haste in driving on the up, a risky proposition against the new ball in Perth.
Crawley’s wicket meant that for the first time in Test cricket the opening partnership did not score a run in each of the first three innings.
Starc was on a roll and conjuring menacing swing with the new ball, but Duckett and Pope survived the onslaught, frustrating Australia with proactive running between the wickets. Much like England’s first innings, Starc was playing a lone hand with Boland continuing to be expensive with 15 runs off his first three overs.
Boland started to get his tail up in his second spell and beat the bat of Pope on numerous occasions as England ended the session well placed. But Boland’s luck soon changed as the series-opener dramatically turned on its head.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
