IND vs AUS: Mmm Mia! Here he goes again to Gabba.
Travis Head’s 152 punctured the Indian plans once again on day two at the Gabba and Jasprit Bumrah overshadowed Pfeiffer, fitting right in with his usual Test outing in Brisbane. The joke here is that if he is allowed to get off the mark, Head punishes the opposition a lot.
His sequence reads 84 (SL), 24 (Pak), 152 (Eng), DNB (Eng), 92 (SA), 0 (SA), 0 (WI), 0 (WI), and now 152 (Ind).
Head made his debut in Brisbane in 2019 against Sri Lanka with 84, his highest ever score. He scored 152 against England in 2021.
Head’s last six Test scoring figures at the Gabba are now 152, 92, 0, 0, 0, 152. These included a pair of diamonds, three first-ball golden ducks besides a nervous 92 and 152 against the Poms. He averages 66 on the field and 63 overall at the Gabba. The story of the duck came out in the match against West Indies and South Africa.
But after 92 things were not always this amazing. His trio of ducks gave him a poor little run before he returned against the Indians.
But the 152 runs saw an 18-carat boundary and his acceleration from 50 off 71 balls to 100 off 115 balls saw him break out of the 90s too, so he didn’t waver and stuck to the chase of 100 in the next 44 balls. . But by scoring back-to-back Test centuries in the series, Head healed the memory of his duckling scores at the Gabba in the 2022 and 2024 Ben seasons. It was his 5th 150 score.
Sunday’s game turned dangerous after Head took a 0-1 lead. Just like in the first 30 minutes, he took India back in control by trapping the top order in a 75-3 lead. In the middle session of the day, Head scored 83 runs off 83 balls while Steve Smith scored 40 runs off 81 balls.
After the match, Head told Fox Cricket, “It’s all about being positive, and I thought I had to spend some time in the middle, credit the top three guys for hanging on against the new ball, so I can play my game. Shots. I feel positive.” I did, but it was fun to be aggressive.
He added that he enjoyed playing for the team, but historically had to negotiate early against spin. “I have played enough against India. I have a blueprint, a bit nervous to start against spin, I was happy with the way I started against him. today.”
He said, ‘The new ball does something throughout the game, you can’t look too far ahead of the game. New ball is always important. The top-6 are setting up well, hope to do well against Sri Lanka and make it to the WTC final.
It was Australia’s fourth rescue after Brisbane in 2021, Hobart 2022 and Adelaide 2023, noted Fox Cricket, adding, “The lack of answers seemed to be lacking as the opposition captains decided to change gears.”
Crickviz noted that the southpaw averaged 77 and struck 101 when facing the pacers outside the off-stump from the 2021-22 Ashes. Rishabh Pant had some ramp shots too.
“He just comes in and the game changes instantly,” Allan Border, after whom the ground was named, told Fox Cricket.
“He changes the momentum of the game,” Brad Haddin said on commentary. “He hits good balls to parts of the field that are unorthodox.”
Kerry O’Keefe at Fox had an interesting insight, “Travis Head walks by his success and is detached from the consequences; he’s not afraid of failure.” Post match David Warner wondered, “Where do you bowl him?”
India’s previous tormentors over the years have all been left-handers – Sanath Jayasuriya, Saeed Anwar, Matthew Hayden, but Head looks like a recurring nightmare across all three formats.
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