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Ben Stokes admitted his cluelessness against Travis Head, who took the game away from England in the Ashes opener and gave them a massive headache after catapulting Australia to an emphatic win in Perth. Travis Head's whirlwind century guided the Aussies to a resounding eight-wicket victory over visitors. The low-scoring contest, which surprisingly lasted for just two days, saw an astonishing 19 wickets fall on Day 1 and 13 wickets on Day 2. This loss further extends England's dreadful run in Australia, where they have remained winless in their last 16 Tests, having lost 14 and drawn just two.
That knock from Travis knocked the wind out of us: Ben Stokes
Stokes, who was left shell-shocked after the match, confessed that he tried three or four different plans against Head, but nothing worked, such was Head's rock solid innings.
"Little bit shell-shocked there, Travis Head was phenomenal, jeez that was some knock. The way the game eked out, the guys seem to have success with the bat in hand, they wanted to take the game on, never think we have got enough. That knock from Travis knocked the wind out of us. There was a lot of assistance when the bowlers put the ball in the right area. We tried 3-4 different plans there, he was going like a train. The runs were coming through quickly, he is really hard to stop when he plays like that," Stokes said at the post-match presentation.
Elevated to the opening position following Usman Khawaja's struggles in the match, Head played his role to absolute perfection. He effectively reversed the aggressive 'Bazball' approach back onto the English side, unleashing a spectacular counter-attack. Head's innings included 16 fours and 4 sixes, culminating in a magnificent 123 runs off just 83 deliveries, ensuring Australia was firmly on track for the win. Contributing to the chase, Marnus Labuschagne also broke free from his recent poor form, scoring a vital 51 runs in the second innings. Needing 205 runs to win with three days still remaining, Australia easily overcame the challenges of their first-innings performance to march home to a relatively comfortable victory.
Ben Stokes lauds Mitchell Starc's bowling wizardry
Head hogged the limelight but the foundation of Australia's stunning win was laid by Mitchell Starc, who broke England's back with his 10-wicket haul. Stokes couldn't stop himself from lauding Starc and said:
"The way we bowled yesterday was phenomenal, 19 wickets fell yesterday".
The match began with England batting first, but their innings quickly faltered as they were bowled out for a modest total of 172 runs. This collapse was largely orchestrated by Australian quick Mitchell Starc, who delivered a devastating spell to finish with exceptional figures of 7/58. In response to England's total, Australia's batters also struggled to gain a significant advantage. Only three Australian players managed to cross the 20-run mark, and the team was ultimately dismissed for just 132 runs. This batting failure meant that England took a crucial 40-run lead heading into the start of their second innings.
In the end, Stokes expressed his hopefulness to bounce back. He stated that England need to move on and think about the second Test, which is scheduled to start from December 4 in Brisbane.
"We got four games to go, we have to let it sink in, we have to move on and think about the next game in Brisbane. Long time before that game starts, everybody will put the hard yards in," Stokes concluded.
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