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The Ashes | Gabba Test, Day 2: Travis Head takes England bowlers head on to deflate Joe Root and co.

If a wicket on the very first ball was not a strong enough ominous sign for the Joe Root’s England on what may be heading their way in the first Test of the Ashes series at Gabba, getting hammered to all corners of the ground by the most vulnerable batsman in the Australian batting lineup on the second day provided enough glimpse of their prospective hardships on the Australian soil. Since the emergence of Marnus Labuschagne at the top of the order, it has been said that to get past Australia you must get past the trio of him, David Warner and Steve Smith. England could not go completely beyond all of them but the cheap wicket of Smith helped them overcome the century stand between the other two. However, their bowling attack was not fresh enough to keep a relentless line and length going in face of an onslaught by Travis Head, who had to bank on his past to get secure his present and possibly future on the basis of good performances. Robinson limps but carries England on his shoulders After Mark Wood and Jack Leach gave them the lease of life in the form of Labuschagne and Smith’s wickets, Ollie Robinson dragged England back almost from point of no return in the game and probably from the series as well. Warner was looking unfazed by the fall of wickets at the other end as he was nearing his century after riding on the wave of good luck early on in the innings. However, he did not expect the seam bowler that Robinson is to use a cutter and the Gabba surface to hold the ball for a longer period of time. Failure in judgment led to a leading edge and England sent all of Labuschagne, Smith and Warner in quick succession. They were right in the game as the only three remaining specialist batsmen were Travis Head, who was coming back after getting dropped midway through the series against India last summer, Cameron Green, who is yet to unlock his famous potential and Alex Carey, the debutant wicketkeeper-batsman. Robinson went one step further and eliminated one of them on the very next ball after dismissing Warner by flummoxing Green with a delivery that the batsman thought would bounce over the stumps. The length was too full and the line was too near to the off stump to miss the furniture and both Green’s innings and Australia’s efforts were derailed in a span of two deliveries. Pressure? What pressure, says Travis Head When Head walked out to bat, Wood was going full throttle with his pace and bounce and was running in on the back of the biggest wicket in the form of Steve Smith, who could have been unsettled by his pace to poke it to the keeper. Head was challenged by deliveries rising from short of good length areas and hitting him high on the bat. At the other end, Robinson was working a nice angle against him and Root backed his most accurate bowler on display with as many as five slips during that phase. Head was not nervous though to poke at delivery outside off stump and instead was on a mission to announce his return to international form and reclaim his lost belongings at the Test level. There were no half measures when England bowlers erred by bowling too full irrespective of a crowded slip cordon and he was up and running even before Root and his lieutenants could realise. Like Labuschagne and Warner, he too was extremely aggressive against Jack Leach and manufactured shots to convert good balls into boundary balls to motor the scoring rate along. He seemed too aggressive at one moment to Mark waugh who has immortalised aggressive stroke playing in the modern-day game and a bewildered Waugh wondered if he was looking to bing his ton before England could get their hands on the new ball. That probably was the only mission he failed to achieve today at Gabba but brought up his first Ashes ton in the 80th over by punching Chris Woakes past mid-on. The roar and animated celebration exemplified the context of that innings to his career and stature in the Australian Test team. England face up plenty of problems England rested James Anderson from the first Test citing inadequate preparation coming into the Gabba Test and to prepare for the Day-Night Test scheduled next week where his qualities would be more utilised. This space has already discussed the merits and demerits of that call but they also took another big call on Stuart Broad for this game. He was overlooked for the pace trio of Woakes, Robinson and Wood and spin of Jack Leach for some unknown reasons. England opted to play it safe with their experienced horses considering their ageing body and played the bait on young pacers. However, those extra meticulous proved to be futile for the visitors as Robinson looked out of gas towards the end and appeared to be holding his thigh while bowling towards the end of the day. Likewise, Ben Stokes also pulled his knee while going for a valiant save on the boundary line and bowled gingerly at pace and rhythm that could barely challenge the Australian batting lineup, except for one delivery that bounced extra and got big on Head. As discussed earlier also, England have done too much forward planning and maybe are paying price with every passing session and day of the Gabba Test. England could take heart from Robinson’s bowling and Woakes’s control but lack of sustained penetration from pacers was brutally exposed and once Australia took the attack to Jack Leach in successful manner, there was no place to hide for Joe Root, the skipper and his 10 teammates.

R Ashwin moves to second spot in ICC Test Rankings for all-rounders

New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel and India batsman Mayank Agarwal were rewarded for their brilliant performance during the bilateral tie between two sides. While Ajaz became only the third bowler to scalp 10 wickets in an innings, Mayank was back among runs as he struck a century and a fifty during the second Test in Mumbai. The right-handed batsman has jumped to 11th position in the ICC Test Rankings for the batsmen. On the other side, Ajaz has risen to 38th position after a 14-wicket haul in the match. But the spinner’s efforts went in vain as the visitors suffered a defeat by 372 runs in Mumbai to lose the two-match series 0-1. The first match of the series in Kanpur ended in a draw. Australia’s Pat Cummins is presently sitting at the helm in the ICC Test Rankings for bowlers while England’s Joe Root tops the chart in the batting list. In the all-rounders ranking in Tests, R Ashwin has moved up to second place. The off-spinner had a good run during the Test series against New Zealand after he picked up a three-fer in both the innings in the first match while bagging a four-wicket haul apiece in the second. Apart from this he also scored 38 & 32 in the respective innings of the first clash.

The Ashes | Gabba Test, Day 2: Travis Head repays team's faith, silences critics with 85-ball hundred

Overcoming off all the concerns about his format at the Test level and shutting all his critics who did not back for his inclusion in Australia’s Test playing XI, Travis Head hit a vital half-century to help the hosts get past the 300-run mark and take a significant lead of more than 150 runs in the first innings of the first Ashes Test at Gabba. He reached the milestone with a thumping cover drive off Mark Wood and repaid the faith shown by the Pat Cummins-led team management for the first Test of the Ashes series. He walked out to bat when England were coming back strongly in the game on the back of a tremendous over from Ollie Robinson where he took two big wickets on consecutive deliveries. Australia were going seamless on their way towards a possible big total on the back of a big century stand between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, but the four big wickets including of Steve Smith and Cameron Green put Australia under some pressure. Head played a counterattacking innings and hit a run ball fifty to lead Australia’s response. Head was competing for the number five slot in the Australia’s middle order with Usman Khwaja and won the management’s trust based on his good numbers in the past Ashes series.

The Ashes | Gabba Test, Day 2: Robinson takes consecutive wickets of Warner, Green to halt Australia

After the couple of big wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in the afternoon session, England got right back in the game with the biggest wicket of the innings of David Warner, who was looking well-placed for a big score in the final session on the second day of the Gabba Test. If Warner’s wicket was not enough for the tourists to lift their spirit, Cameron Green was bowled shouldering arms and Ollie Robinson came on the verge of hat-trick. First, he accounted for Warner with a slower ball and then sent Green back with his error in judgment Alex Carey faced the first ball of his Test career as a hat-trick ball. Warner and Labuschagne seemed to be in control in the afternoon session before the Australian number three got too eager to score on every ball of Jack Leach and threw his wicket away for 74. Steve Smith batted with method so unlike him as he charged Leach and scored some streaky runs before edging to Jos Buttler off the bowling of Mark Wood. Robinson’s success brought England right back in the game as they are at 196/5 in 56 overs and are left with only Travis Head and the debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Carey to extend the lead beyond England’s comfort level.