England batting collapse sees Australia win by eight wickets in the first Ashes Test
England’s error-prone batting was found wanting for the second day in a row as they tossed away a strong position and opened the door to a thrashing by Australia
England suffered another Ashes nightmare Down Under after falling to a humiliating two-day defeat in the first Test against Australia.
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A two-month tour that began with high hopes of regaining the urn just 48 hours earlier lurched towards a brutal eight-wicket loss that was their fastest since their last two-day capitulation in 1921.
England’s error-prone batting was found wanting for the second day in a row as they tossed away a strong position and opened the door to a thrashing at the hands of 69-ball centurion Travis Head.
Sterling work by their pace attack somehow turned their day one effort of 172 into a first-innings lead of 40, and just after lunch that had swelled to 105 for the lost of a single wicket.
But they proceeded to lose nine for 99 – a job for the emergency services in any country – as the worst fears of England fans came true.
That left Australia chasing 205 to win a hyperactive game of cricket that has more than three scheduled days left.
With a 40-run first-innings lead in the bank England initially shrugged off Zak Crawley’s second duck of the match to move 105 in front while one down just after lunch.
But their hopes fell off a cliff edge as Australia forced error after error.
Ben Duckett nicked Scott Boland behind before a ruinous sequence that saw the middle-order engine room of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root dismissed in the space of six deliveries without a run added to the total.
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Pope, who led a charmed life for his 33, finally provided the edge he had been threatening against Boland, who then got the dangerous Brook for nought as he fenced at just his third delivery.
Mitchell Starc then picked up the baton.
Following career-best figures of seven for 58 in the first innings, as well as a second rout of Crawley in the morning, he sent Root’s stumps flying off a big inside edge before having England’s inspirational captain Ben Stokes caught in the cordon.
Jamie Smith was controversially given caught behind off Brendan Doggett, with a painfully long DRS review going with the bowler despite clear uncertainty over the UltraEdge technology.
From 104 for seven, England piled on a frantic 50 partnership as Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse took on a ring of boundary fielders, sharing three fours and four sixes.
But their luck ran out as the home side quelled the counter-attack just before the tea break, with Boland’s four for 33 the pick.
Khawaja’s fitness issues prompted a creative rethink, with the swashbuckling Head emerging to play a magical innings.
His presence instantly changed the terms of the debate, presenting England with a confident strokemaker rather than a tentative prodder.
It proved an inspired decision as he took the pressure off rookie partner Jake Weatherald following his first-day duck.
Head offered immediate impetus and blasts of adrenaline, uppercutting Carse for six straight over the wicketkeeper’s head and carving him extravagantly over deep third.
As English heads dropped, he began flexing – stepping inside the line of a 90mph ball from Mark Wood and whipping six more beyond fine leg.
The speed gun showed that the quicks had lost their collective mojo and Carse’s dismissal of Weatherald for 23 barely lightened the mood.
Head was in a rush to finish it, peppering the boundaries with abandon before holing out to allow skipper Steve Smith the honour of the winning runs.