Head Blasts Australia Ahead in Ashes Test

AFP/APP

Adelaide, Australia: A dangerous Travis Head crunched an unbeaten 68 as Australia built an ominous 204-run lead Friday in the third Test, leaving England’s hopes of salvaging the Ashes fading fast.

At tea on day three, the hosts were 119-2, with Usman Khawaja partnering Head on 27, as they set about piling up a big total to put the five-match series out of England’s reach. England lost the first Test at Perth inside two days and the second in Brisbane inside four, both by eight wickets. Only a victory in Adelaide can now save them.

Australia suffered an early setback in a tense 20 minutes before lunch after England were all out for 286, with Ben Stokes’ gritty 83 leading the charge in response to Australia’s first innings of 371. Bryson Carse trapped Jake Weatherald lbw for one, and he walked without reviewing after the umpire raised his finger, though replays suggested the ball was pitching outside leg stump.

After the break, a busy Head began cutting and chopping boundaries to all corners of the ground, reviving memories of his match-winning 123 in Perth. Marnus Labuschagne had a fright on eight when England made a huge appeal for caught behind, but the third umpire ruled there was a gap between bat and ball. He had no such luck on 13, edging Josh Tongue to Harry Brook at slip, with reviews showing it carried.

Khawaja, who hit a defiant 82 in the first innings after a last-minute call-up for the ill Steve Smith, was composed again and proved a perfect foil for the more aggressive Head.

After a woeful batting display on Thursday, Stokes and Jofra Archer kept England’s dreams alive with a stirring 106-run ninth-wicket stand. They resumed at 213-8 in overcast and muggy conditions, with Stokes not out on 45 and Archer on 30. Stokes, who suffered leg cramps and dehydration during his gutsy rearguard action in sweltering 40°C heat on Thursday, brought up his slowest ever 50 in Tests, off 159 balls.

He kept plugging away but finally fell when Mitchell Starc took the new ball and bowled him, with Stokes one of the few players showing the fight he had demanded before the game. Archer was another, ably supporting his captain. The fast bowler was the last man out when caught by Labuschagne off Scott Boland for 51 — his highest Test score and maiden half-century.

Boland ended with 3-45, while Pat Cummins took 3-69 in his first Test since July after lower back issues. England’s woes began when openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, along with the under-performing Ollie Pope, departed in a 15-ball blitz on Thursday at the hands of Cummins and Nathan Lyon. Harry Brook showed some resistance with 45, but the Australian attack remained relentless.