Australia vs England first Test Day 2 live scores, updates, video, stream, Travis Head hundred, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc

England’s Bazballers have gotten a taste of their own medicine, shell-shocked by Travball in the West Australian capital.

Australia has cruised towards a comprehensive eight-wicket win in the Ashes opener after makeshift opener Travis Head cracked a remarkable 83-ball 123 on day two at Perth Stadium, with the hosts taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The contest only lasted 30 hours, making it the shortest Test match on Australian soil since 1932. The last time an Ashes Test finished inside two days was in 1921.

“I feel bad for the 60,000 that were due to come in tomorrow,” Head laughed after the match.

Watch The Ashes 2025/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

Chasing what appeared to be an awkward 205-run target victory, Australia got the job done in just 28.2 overs, ticking along at a blistering tempo of 7.24 runs per over. Head, elevated to opener in the absence of the injured Usman Khawaja, clobbered 16 boundaries and four sixes during his swashbuckling knock, combining with Marnus Labuschagne for a 117-run partnership for the second wicket.

Asked about the promotion, Head replied: “I was happy to do it, it doesn’t bother me too much.

“I was pretty keen to do it. Luckily they let me.”

Australian captain Steve Smith later admitted that veteran spinner Nathan Lyon, who was battling a minor hip injury after copping a body blow during the morning session, was considered for the opener role.

“I think we made the right decision in the end,” Smith laughed during the post-match presentation.

MORE ASHES NEWS

TALKING POINTS: Travball beats Bazball at own game after 137-yr fail

PLAYER RATINGS: Star’s perfect 10 for epic performance… but not the Aussie you’d expect

‘THIS IS PAINFUL’: Poms ‘brainless’ as ex-captain rips into ‘bloody disappointing’ repeat blunders

Fastest Test hundreds for Australia

57 — Adam Gilchrist vs ENG, WACA, 2006

67 — Jack Gregory vs SA, Johannesburg, 1921

69 — David Warner vs IND, WACA, 2012

69 — Travis Head vs ENG, Perth Stadium, 2025

Head passed triple figures in just 69 deliveries, the equal third-fastest century by an Australian in Tests, a performance that will prompt speculation on whether he should stay at the top of the order for the remainder of the series.

Nobody else in the match has managed more than 52 — it was as though he was batting on a completely different pitch from the one that had just seen 30 wickets fall across five sessions.

“Intimidating place to bat, it gives you some sleepless nights with the cracks,” Head said of the Perth deck.

“It gets pretty scary.

“Nice to get the job done early and not have to bat on day four or five.”

Asked if he could have imagined hitting that century considering the pitch’s behaviour on day one, Head replied: “S*** no.”

Earlier on Saturday, fast bowlers Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc flipped the match on its head by ripping through England’s middle order during a frantic afternoon session that featured nine wickets.

Seemingly cruising at 1-65, England’s commanding lead disappeared during a dramatic 19-ball collapse of 4-11, with poor shot selection and lazy execution to blame.

The tourists were ultimately bowled out for 164 in 34.4 overs — Boland finished with 4-33, while Starc, named player of the match, snared three scalps to secure his third ten-wicket haul in Tests.

“He bowled like a genius,” Smith said of Starc.

MORE ASHES NEWS

‘GAVE IT AWAY’: England star’s costly act as Poms fume over controversial review

‘UNDER THE COSH’: Pressure mounts on Uzzie amid golf revelation

INJURY UPDATE: Cummins’ big reveal amid Aussies’ Gabba Hazlewood blow

Speaking during the post-match presentation, England captain Ben Stokes confessed the tourists were “a little bit shell-shocked”.

“That innings from Head was pretty phenomenal. That was some knock,” he said.

“When he’s going like that … he’s very hard to stop.

“This is a very tough one to get the series going, when we felt like we were in control of the game.

“We’ve got four more games here. It hurts extremely, but then we’ve got to move on to Brisbane.”

Stokes also defended England’s batting style, adding: “The guys who found success out on that wicket were the ones who looked to take the bowlers on.

“The guys who were brave enough to knock the bowlers off their lengths seemed to find success.”

Earlier, England’s second innings got off to a disastrous start when Starc removed opener Zak Crawley for a fifth-ball duck with a stunning piece of athleticism. Lunging at full stretch to his left, the 35-year-old held onto a one-handed return catch while almost parallel to the turf, his 25th dismissal in the first over of a Test innings.

Crawley, who also copped a duck on Friday, became the first England opener to bag a pair in a Test match since 1999.

Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope rebuilt the innings with a 65-run partnership for the second wicket, aided by some sloppy overthrows from the Australians. On the final delivery before lunch, Duckett successfully overturned an LBW shout that pitched marginally outside leg stump, denying Boland his first wicket of the match.

But the Victorian wreaked havoc with the Kookaburra after the interval, with Duckett, Pope and the dangerous Harry Brook each edging towards the slips cordon. Pope and Brook, evidently still adjusting to Australia’s bouncy decks, were both guilty of needlessly wafting at wide deliveries with a diagonal bat.

Starc joined the party at the other end, with superstar Joe Root chopping on for 8 to silence the Barmy Army and bring the match back in the balance.

Later in the same over, England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was handed a massive reprieve on 0 when the under-fire Khawaja dropped a regulation chance at first slip, infuriating Starc.

But the left-hander didn’t have to wait long for his tenth scalp of the match, removing Stokes for 2, with captain Steve Smith swallowing a low catch at second slip. It was the 11th time that Starc has dismissed Stokes in Tests, a feat only Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has achieved more often.

Smith’s knock ended in controversial fashion, given out caught behind for 15 after a lengthy review from third umpire Sharfuddoula, who analysed footage and Snicko replays for several minutes before handing down his verdict, which prompted boos and jeers from the England supporters in attendance.

With the tail exposed, Australia spread the field and turned to a bumper ploy, which backfired when Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse combined for a 50-run partnership for the eighth wicket, featuring four sixes. However, Boland and debutant Brendan Doggett (3-51) cleaned up the tail, wrapping up the innings before the tea break.

After a nervy start, debutant Jake Weatherald got off the mark in Australia’s second innings with a delicate nudge through the leg side, celebrating with a sheepish smirk and subdued fist pump. The Tasmanian successfully reviewed a caught-behind decision against speedster Jofra Archer when replays showed the ball flicked his back pocket, missing the willow.

Head switched to white-ball mode, feasting on width and racing towards a half-century in just 36 deliveries, the second-fastest fifty of his Test career.

The runs continued flowing after Weatherald’s departure, caught off the leading edge for 23 to end a 79-run opening partnership, with Head thumping four boundaries in an over against Stokes.

The South Australian produced several audacious strokes during his blitz, most notably a flat-batted six against Archer that sailed over the long-on boundary. Even when he miscued, the ball somehow landed in gaps.

England’s bowlers began to lose the plot, spreading the field and dropping short as Head piled on the runs. Having terrorised Australia’s top order the previous afternoon, England’s pace cartel suddenly looked amateurish.

The crowd of 49,983 rose to its feet when the left-hander reached his century with an awkward fend through third man, sealing his tenth Test hundred. Even the Barmy Army was on its feet.

Head’s entertaining knock came to an end when he holed out to cow corner with 13 runs still required, embracing Labuschagne before marching off the field to a standing ovation. The Queenslander, who passed fifty with a thumping six over mid-wicket, finished unbeaten on 51 from 49 balls, with Smith hitting the winning runs.

“Today was just incredible,” Smith said.

“That innings from Head was out of this world. He played some outrageous shots.

“That was just incredible to witness.”

The second Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at the Gabba on December 4.

Relive all the action in our live blog below. Can’t see the blog? CLICK HERE