After a completely washed out last session of the opening day, Australia came out fresh on the 2nd day to counter England’s total of 147 in the 1st test match at Gabba, Brisbane.
Travis Head has provided the Aussies with a strong hand over the visitors as he scored a watchful Ashes century, the 3rd of his test career to put his team on the driving seat.
Test century No.3 and first in the #Ashes for Travis Head! pic.twitter.com/XDzXspR5Pd
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 9, 2021
The hosts didn’t have a good start as opener Marcus Harris was dismissed early in the innings for just 3 runs but managed to make a good recovery as David Warner started to build a partnership with Marnus Labuschagne who was looking in the fine touch and went on to score a brilliant half-century and a commendable 156-run stand with Warner before the right-hander was dismissed by Jack Leach on 74, Warner, on the other hand, was also looking promising and scored his 31st test half-century. He was joined by Steve Smith who didn’t manage to add much to the scoreboard and departed for just 12 with a rare failure to his name, thanks to a beauty from Mark Wood who was getting a fair amount of bounce from the pitch and kept on asking a question with his extra pace. Ollie Robinson then didn’t take too much time after tea to get the better of Warner who missed out on what would’ve been a memorable century considering the poor he had in England. Robinson then quickly removed all-rounder Cameron Green on the very next delivery who made a risky decision to leave the first ball he was facing and allowed a free passage for the ball to hit the off-stump.
Watch Ollie Robinson's two quick wickets and hat-trick ball again! #Ashes https://t.co/gt2MEILGLF
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 9, 2021
Australia was looking vulnerable at 195/5 with 3 quick wickets but was rescued by Travis Head’s brilliance who first added quick 41 runs with the debutant Alex Carey alongside and then started punishing the England bowlers who at a moment could’ve taken over the charge but failed to do so as Head kept on playing his shots with full attacking intent and added another crucial 70-run stand with skipper Pat Cummins and went on to hit a remarkable 85-ball Ashes century, the 3rd of his test career. He in between took a couple of painful blows but never went off the track and is still looking strong at the crease on 112* with Mitchell Starc 10* on the other end.
England on the other hand looked pretty ordinary with their body language on the field especially after Head came out to bat who never allowed the English bowlers to settle. Robinson was the successful bowler for the visitors on the day as there were no other heroic efforts from the English side. Captain Joe Root himself had to take the bowl in between and managed to dismiss his counterpart as there was no proper support from the leading spin bowler Jack Leach who had a horrible day at the office. He was taken on by the Aussie batsmen and gave away 95 runs in his 11 overs however managed to dismiss the settled Labuschagne in the process.
A brilliant day two for Australia at the Gabba as they secure a lead of 196 runs.#Ashes | #WTC23 | #AUSvENG | https://t.co/pR2hqnzR22 pic.twitter.com/Pngwu8Cmuh
— ICC (@ICC) December 9, 2021
Australia finished the 2nd day strongly on 343/7 and looks comfortable at the moment with a heavy lead of 196 runs in their 1st innings and probably will look to add more on Day 3 to take the upper hand in the opening test match.
