Adelaide: Travis Head took off his helmet and gloves, dropped to his knees and planted a kiss on the pitch after posting a century in a fourth consecutive Test on his home ground at the Adelaide Oval.
It was trademark “Travball” Day 3 of the third Ashes cricket Test.
The freewheeling Australia batter had a huge reprieve on 99 when he slashed at a Jofra Archer delivery and was dropped by Harry Brook at gully. That was after he fended a Joe Root tweaker into the on-side and took off for a quick single, only to be sent back by batting partner Alex Carey.
He faced eight balls without scoring while on 99, then went for broke and advanced down the pitch and drove the ball back over Root’s head to the long-on boundary to move to 103.
It was his 11th century in 63 tests, and second in five innings since being promoted from No. 5 to open the innings in Perth. That’s where his match-winning innings sealed Australia’s eight-wicket win to open the series.
By stumps Friday, Head was unbeaten on 142 and his unbroken partnership with fellow South Australian Carey (52) was 122. Australia was 271-4, with a lead of 356.
Brook took two excellent catches in the slips to remove Marnus Labuschagne (13) and Cameron Green (7) off Josh Tongue’s bowling, but the one he missed against Head was costly.
Stokes and ArcherThe Australians went in to bat after dismissing England for 286 just before lunch, after Ben Stokes and Archer helped cut the first-innings margin to 85 with a record 106-run ninth-wicket stand.
Stokes walked off the field yelling at himself and shaking his head after being bowled for 83 by Mitchell Starc, bringing an end to a defiant, 198-ball innings that dragged his team back into the contest.
After losing the first two tests in Perth and Brisbane and allowing Australia to post 371 in the first innings here, England’s chances of keeping the five-test series alive seemed remote when Stokes went to the crease on Day 2 with the total at 71-4.
With England on the verge of collapsing at 168-8, Stokes joined forces with No. 10 Archer to bat out the evening session. The pair resumed Friday with England at 213 for eight, still 158 behind.
Australia wanted to clean up the last two wickets quickly but Stokes and Archer, who took a five-wicket haul when England was bowling, dug in.
Stokes stepped down the wicket to Scott Boland for a driven boundary to bring up the 50 partnership off 89 balls, then raised his half-century with a single off 159 deliveries. It was his slowest 50 in test cricket — his 37th, but vital for his team.
Reducing the deficitNot long after, Archer took a single off Cummins to reach his first test half-century off 97 balls, bringing England’s deficit under 100.
But the innings ended relatively quickly after left-armer Starc bowled Stokes with a delivery from over the wicket that angled back. The Stokes-Archer partnership was the highest ever for the ninth wicket for England at Adelaide.
All that time in the sun had an impact on England’s bowling attack, though. Archer, who took five wickets in the first innings, took 0-15 in 10 overs. Stokes, England’s highest wicket-taker this year, didn’t bowl.
England is capable of chasing a big target in the fourth innings, chasing 370-plus against India twice in the last three years, so Bazball won’t be completely dispensed with despite Stokes’ stoic first innings.
AP
