Head hits back after Root 160 in Ashes finale

Sydney Cricket Ground’s fifth Ashes Test is scheduled for day two of five.

England 384: Root 160, Brook 84, Neser 4-60

Australia 166-2: Head 91*, Labuschagne 48, Stokes 2-30

Australia is 218 runs behind.

On the second day of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, Australia opener Travis Head rebuffed with a majestic 160 from Joe Root from England.

Head sabotaged some poor bowling to fall short of an unbeaten 91 from 87 balls thanks to Root’s masterclass, which gave England a competitive 384 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. After 34.1% overs, Australia’s deficit has decreased to 218 and is now 166-2.

Prior to Jamie Smith’s horrifying dismissal, the tourists had already lost 7-158 and a final 5-61 defeat.

Smith had other opportunities in his skittish 46, but was subsequently caught off part-time medium-pacer Marnus Labuschagne.

England’s total was on par on a pitch that offered more options for bowlers on Monday, and Australia’s batters quickly made up the difference thanks to the visitors’ attack and two dropped catches.

Jake Weatherald and Head added 50 in 9.2 overs after Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts both started losing.

Weatherald lbw was captured by Captain Ben Stokes’ impromptu introduction, with Head and Labuschagne sharing another 105. Before the England captain drew him into an edge to gully for 48, Stokes and Labuschagne exchanged words.

This is a poor Ashes series that has been hyped and anticipated but lacking in quality, individual brilliance, and magic moments.

This finale’s second day was consistent with what had already happened. In an improved Australia bowling performance, Root and Head outscored the competition, but Smith’s dismissal was horrible and Root and Head were slapdash with the ball.

Even the patently Australian plan was odd. With his seam, Labuschagne had seven fielders for some gentle bouncers on the boundary.

Smith continued his poor tour by giving a forehand to Scott Boland at deep cover. The carelessness that so frequently costs this England team was embodied in the dismissal.

The pitch is already showing signs of uneven bounce, and only three times has a team gone this far than England’s 384 batting first in a Test.

Head’s elevation to start the first Test match in Perth’s second innings was the series’ defining moment, and the left-hander is now tucking into England’s bowling once more.

England manages to keep feeding his strength off stump in some way. It is alleged that neither Carse nor Potts should have opened the bowling, allowing Australia to fly. The latter is playing his first Test for more than a year.

Each bowler had Weatherald dropped, fair enough. When Weatherald had nine, Root parried a difficult high edge on Potts’ first slip, and Ben Duckett had a more straightforward chance on Carse’s side of the field when he had 14.

Stokes ensured neither miss was too costly by going on in the eleventh over. Weatherald was fully engaged by the captain with his eighth delivery.

Labuschagne slipped into Head’s slipstream after his ball-playing prowess. Labuschagne played clips and drives with a headcarved through the other side. Potts’ economy was more than eight years old when the clouds started to gather.

In this series, root has been a feast or famine. His infamous century in Brisbane, which included only two other appearances after the age of 20, was unveiled until this Test. The former captain excelled in Sydney, where he was dropped for the first time in his Test career and once batted himself into a hospital in extreme heat.

England would have wasted their promising overnight lead of 211-32 without Root. Stokes edged an 11-ball duck from Mitchell Starc for a limp poke, leaving the tourists with a 2 to 3 loss in 4 overs after Gary Brook poked a limp at Scott Boland and was caught at slip for 84.

Smith’s contribution to a 94 match between Root and Smith was valuable, on the one hand, but the wicketkeeper was fortunate to stay put for that long. On February 22, he was edged and miscued by the same bowler after being caught off a Cameron Green no-ball. Anabolic cricket was played as Labuschagne’s bouncer plan was being dismissed as the second new ball approached.

Root’s overnight 72 had already increased to three figures by this point. Only India’s Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis have more Test tons, despite Neser’s 94-run victory over the slips. In Brisbane, he celebrated with the same kind of shoulders he had pulled.

With Will Jacks, he went on to add 52 for the seventh wicket. Only four other players have achieved this feat in Tests, making 150 the 17th time in the process.