Key events
WICKET! Head c Hodge b A. Joseph 119, Australia 255-8
What a catch! Head sees a pulling length from Joseph, rocks back and clouts it as ever. Backs himself to clear the deeps quare leg. Hodge there sees the ball swirling up and has to gauge it. Comes in from the rope a little. Then goes back. Along the rope a few metres. Waiting. It hangs. Looks like it will clear him. He steps close to the rope. Lets the ball go over him, reaches back, and plucks it with two hands behind his body, stopping himself from teetering over.
The crowd was anticipating that he would drop that. Usually when players have to make so many different movements, they do. But he holds it, and they let out an astonished “Oooh!” He holds the ball up in salute, beaming.
73rd over: Australia 255-7 (Head 118, Cummins 10) Same M.O. for M.O.T.I.E – a Head single, then Blocktown.
72nd over: Australia 254-7 (Head 118, Cummins 10) There’s a Joseph swap, Alzarri coming back. Head still drills the ball, but only down the ground for one. Cummins sees off the est, beaten once by a good ‘un.
71st over: Australia 253-7 (Head 117, Cummins 10) Things calm down a jot with Motie only conceding some singles.
Greg Baum: “Counterintuitively to the cavalier way he plays, Travis Head often gets his runs not when they are most available, but when they are most needed.”
70th over: Australia 250-7 (Head 115, Cummins 9) Time for Head to party, which he does by pumping Joseph over deep midwicket for six. That slapping sloppy pull shot style of his. Feels good? Yeah? So he has another. Hauling his body in a half circle, knitted sweater vest trailing behind the movement. Might be the least elegant specialist player of that shot in the world. Nearly gets out to it next ball! Top edge swirling high over mid off, but Braithwaite can’t judge where it’s going to fall and can’t make up the distance running back. Braithwaite throws the field back, and Head pushes a run to deep point. That was easy. Keeps strike.
16 from the over. Shamar just laughs. What else can you do?
Century! Travis Head 100 from 122 balls
69th over: Australia 234-7 (Head 100, Cummins 8) Left-arm spinner with a flat trajectory bowling around the wicket into Pat Cummins’ swinging arc – there’s only one way that’s going. Over midwicket for four. Motie slows his pace up the next ball, shortens his length a touch, gives it a chance to turn away. That’s better, nudged to the off side and can’t score. Nor from a cracked cut shot straight at cover. But when Motie goes back towards the stumps, he’s thumped away again for three.
And that gives Travis Head the chance to wait for a full loopy ball and drive it square for four. A South Australian on his home ground – I know he got one last year, but is Head the first SA player to do it since Greg Blewett? That rings a bell.
68th over: Australia 223-7 (Head 96, Cummins 1) Sharmar Joseph has 4 for 69. Very nice. There’s a nice cheer from the crowd as Cummins walks to the middle. Drives out a yorker for his first run.
WICKET! Starc c Chanderpaul b S. Joseph 10, Australia 222-7
It’s Shamar again! You can’t stop this guy! The 24-year-old on debut gets a nasty angling ball in at Starc, who tries to play it down but the bounce is too much. It lobs up on the leg side, and Chanderpaul under the helmet has to dive forward a long way but scoops it up above the turf. Good take.
67th over: Australia 221-6 (Head 95, Starc 10) Motie makes it easy for Head with a ball on the leg stump line, glanced away to start the over with a four.
66th over: Australia 216-6 (Head 90, Starc 10) And Head is into his zone as well. Slams Shamar Joseph back down the ground for four, off a length and pummelled with a cross-bat, then gets a shorter ball at the sternum and leans back to dab it through deep third. Oh, and another boundary, this time a genuine edge as he drives a full ball, but there aren’t enough catchers there anymore to intercept it. Braithwaite moves a gully wider, and keeps a second slip. That’s it. Head steers along the ground to that slipper. Then drops and runs to keep the strike.
65th over: Australia 205-6 (Head 79, Starc 10) Uh oh, Starc is starting to hurt the Windies now. Gets forward and drives Motie lavishly through cover, to end an over that had a few singles from it too.
64th over: Australia 198-6 (Head 77, Starc 5) Shamar Joseph, three to his name already, needs a fourth. They’ve done so much good work but Australia can still get away substantially. Three slips and a gully waiting for Starc, who is able to nudge a run into the leg side. Head does the same to a no-ball.
63rd over: Australia 195-6 (Head 76, Starc 4) Motie burns through an over, just a couple of singles.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Angus. This has been good fun so far today.
62nd over: Australia 193-6 (Head 75, Starc 3) Kemar Roach has the first over after drinks and Head greets it with an attempted whump over slips but has to settle for a single backward of square. A thick edge past gully gets Starc off strike but Head’s dab to long leg retains it. Time for me to handover to Geoff Lemon. Cheers for your company today and see yers on the morrow!
61st over: Australia 190-6 (Head 73, Starc 2) Greaves exits the attack, Shamar Joseph enters. The youngster’s dream debut has entered its 15th over and he is seeking a fourth wicket to go with his 36 run flurry in the first innings. Instead Starc tucks him away for a legbye and Head taps him square for a single off the bat. Those two runs officially surpass the West Indies’ total of 188 and put Australia ahead in this Test.
60th over: Australia 187-6 (Head 70, Starc 2) WHACK! That first ball from Kemar Roach was right in the Travis Head Fun Zone and he swivelled on it and spiflicated that poor Kookaburra ball over the midwicket fielder and into the fence on the first bounce. Roach rallies to get one thumping into Head’s pads with a little inside edge. His miscued drive on the last brings Australia to within a run of West Indies’ total.
59th over: Australia 182-6 (Head 66, Starc 2) Starc gets off the mark with an elegant cover drive for two. Nice shot. Greaves has 2-28 from his 12 overs and Australia trail by 6 runs.
58th over: Australia 180-6 (Head 66, Starc 0) Head heaves Roach high over the infield but he only gets two runs to add to the first two he tucked down the legside. Australia have the chase into single figures now.
57th over: Australia 176-6 (Head 62, Starc 0) The tip of the Australian tail has arrived in the form of Mitchell Starc, a bowler with 345 wickets and – more notably given the task at hand – more than 2000 runs at 21. He ducks and weaves through Greaves’ over without adding to that impressive tally.
56th over: Australia 173-6 (Head 61, Starc 0) Here comes the Head counter attack! Having farewelled his bestie on the final ball of Greaves’ over, Head declares his intent to the first ball of Alzarri Joseph’s 16th over: a beligerent slash behind point. Lovely shot but he’s undone by the next few, playing and missing, not yet in the rhythm we saw last summer against West Indies, in India and during the 2023 Ashes.
WICKET! Carey c Da Silva b Greaves 15 (Australia 168-6)
West Indies strike back! Carey had just cut Greaves for four but the bowler’s response was excellent. He thumped it in fast on a length outside off-stump and Carey moved too slow and too sideways, catching a thick edge and sending it into the safe hands of the keeper. Australia are in trouble!
55th over: Australia 168-5 (Head 56, Carey 15) Cracked by Carey! Greaves put it short and wide an Carey cut truly to sent it flying past the fielder an into the rope. This Head-Carey partnership is now worth 39 and Australia trail by 20.
54th over: Australia 162-5 (Head 54, Carey 11) With the monkey off his back somewhat and the milestone of a 17th Test fifty notched, Head gets kinky with a shorter fifth ball, leaning back and tapping it over the slip cordon for four. Two earlier singles and a no-ball and single either side of Head’s boundary makes it eight off the over.
FIFTY for Travis Head! Australia are 156 for 5 still 32 runs behid
Alzarri Joseph was working the angles, using the crease to create confusion but Head outwitted his third ball, moving across and guiding it fine for an easy single that brings up his 17th Test half century.
53rd over: Australia 155-5 (Head 49, Carey 10) Travis Head hasn’t scored a half-century in his 10 innings since the Ashes Test in Leeds. He tries to get there with a pull shot off Greaves to deep midwicket but hits it too well and only gets a single to reach 49. Carey winds up twice and makes good contact each time but Brathwaite’s field foils any further runs.
52nd over: Australia 154-5 (Head 48, Carey 10) Alzarri Joseph is bang on target this over, putting it on a length and keeping Carey guessing. He extracts good bounce from the third to beats the Australian keeper in the tiny gaps between bat, pad and body. It’s a great ball and deserves a shout from the bowler but captain Brathwaite is wise not to review. It’s only air. We’re told this day two Adelaide crowd has built to 18,235.
51st over: Australia 154-5 (Head 48, Carey 10) In the air… safe! Greaves skidded that one on at 130kph and it caught Head on the hop. He popped it up just short of midwicket. Close! Carey runs a legbye to get Australia within 34 runs of overhauling West Indies’ first innings total. Head drives the final Greaves ball uppishly but can’t pierce the infield.
50th over: Australia 152-5 (Head 47, Carey 10) Head drives for four! Alzarri Joseph’s mind must have still been on lunch because his first delivery after the break is an absolute buffet ball which Head dispatches to the midoff boundary. He takes a single from the next to let Carey enter double-figures with a tap past square leg. Joseph buckles Head on the fifth with a fast riser but he guides the last to deep point for another run.
49th over: Australia 145-5 (Head 41, Carey 9) The sun is shining in Adelaide and we have two Adelaide lads resuming their innings to allrounder Justin Greaves who delivers a legside ball to get us underway. Head ambles a legbye. Curious move by captain Brathwaite not to get his strike bowlers Shamar Joseph or Kemar Roach on immediately after lunch to press home the advantage. But as if to prove me wrong, Greaves cuts Carey in half with the final ball, missing bat, pad, body and – somehow – stumps.
LUNCH: Australia are 144 for 5 chasing West Indies’ 188
Fascinating first session on day two. Australia added 84 runs from 27 overs but paid a high price for them, losing the three top-order wickets of Cameron Green (14), Usman Khawaja (45) and Mitchell Marsh (5).
Those key wickets came from good bowling and catching. Golden boy debutant Shamar Joseph (3-52) picked up where he left off with his fourth ball of the day claiming the big wicket of Green before fellow debutant Justin Greaves (1-18) drew an edge from Khawaja, adding to his good morning a few minutes later when he snaffled a snick from Marsh off the bowling of Kemar Roach (1-36).
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite has swung the bowling changes beautifully this morning to keep the world’s No 1 Test side off-kilter and still 44 runs in arrears at lunch. Can two sons of South Australia Travis Head (41 not out) and Alex Carey (9 not out) wrestle back the momentum in front of a big Adelaide crowd? Or will the unfancied visitors continue to stick it to their critics – and the home side?
Time for a bite to eat and a bit to drink. See you in halfa.
48th over: Australia 144-5 (Head 41, Carey 9) Head cuts Roach’s first ball square and hustles two to hit 40, his highest score of the summer. A French cut by Head gets him a streaky single to short fine leg. Carey sees out the over and the two Croweaters head for the buffet. That’s lunch, folks.
47th over: Australia 141-5 (Head 38, Carey 9) Australia start this over 49 runs behind West Indies’ 188. Carey wats to whittle that deficit back in boundaries before lunch it seems. He lunges at Greaves’ second ball but misses by a milimetre. Pulls his head in on the next couple but shows a full face to the fifth and gets two runs down the ground.
46th over: Australia 137-5 (Head 37, Carey 7) Roach has the speed gun hovering in the high 120s, a few notches down on the speeds of the young firebrand who achieved the impossible in 2009 and forced ironman Ricky Ponting to retire hurt. We have a big shout for LBW against Head on the fifth ball here. Onfield decision is NOT OUT but because Head fell over himself so awkwardly, West Indies opt to review. Replays show it shaving leg stump so onfield decision will stand.
45th over: Australia 137-5 (Head 37, Carey 7) Two South Australian batters and best mates at the crease now in Travis Head and Alex Carey. Both are attacking batters but Shamar Joseph and the West Indies attack have their tails up and the ball moving. After five dots Carey throws down the gauntlet beautifully on-driving for four (make that five, it was a no-ball). Lovely stroke by a man back in form.