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On the Day 2 of the first Test at Adelaide Oval, Travis Head (119) delivered a masterful performance, scoring his seventh Test century, and second at his home ground. Head’s exceptional innings played a crucial role in guiding Australia to a hard-fought 95-run lead against West Indies.
Travis Head’s lone battle amidst fall of wickets
Coming to the crease with Australia struggling at 67/3, Head formed a pivotal 46-run partnership with Usman Khawaja (45) for the fourth wicket, surpassing the 100 runs mark. Despite the dismissal of Khawaja at 113/4, Head continued his stellar batting display, later forming brief partnerships with Mitchell Marsh and others. As Australia faced post-lunch setbacks with the dismissals of Alex Carey (15) and Mitchell Starc (10), Head valiantly carried on.
Alzarri Joseph provides a crucial breakthrough
Head’s magnificent innings eventually came to an end when he was dismissed by Alzarri Joseph at 255/8. Australia concluded its first innings at 283, securing a substantial 95-run lead in response to West Indies’ first-innings total of 188.
Also READ: Know the inspiring journey of Shamar Joseph: The Caribbean bowler who dismissed Steve Smith on the first ball of his career
Debutant Shamar Joseph’s impact
Shamar Joseph, making his Test debut for West Indies, emerged as a standout performer. Joseph not only showcased his brilliance with the ball, claiming a fifer with key wickets, including Steve Smith (12) and Marnus Labuschagne (10), but also demonstrated resilience with the bat, contributing a hard-fought 36 runs earlier. As the match unfolds, Head’s century and Joseph’s all-round display have significantly influenced the course of the game.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Travis Head may have become a cult hero all around Australia in the last few months but he’s always been a superhero for the faithful at @TheAdelaideOval & there’s something special about just how much they adore him here #AusvWI pic.twitter.com/5zgExAqmhk
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) January 18, 2024
Head’s 100 is as good as you’ll see. Under pressure, on a difficult deck. Brilliant! #AUSvWI
— Brett Nicholls (@minorpolitics) January 18, 2024
Travis Head out for another historic South Australian number, 119.#AUSvWI #AUSvsWI #CricketTwitter
— Connor (@connorbradley4) January 18, 2024
Travis Head has taken his batting average against West Indies above 200
— Swamp (@sirswampthing) January 18, 2024
Back to back 💯’s for Travis Head on his home deck. Such an entertaining batsman. #AUSvWI
— Andrew Lucas (@LucasLowdown9) January 18, 2024
Great knock from Travis Head, made batting look easy when everyone else made it look hard #AUSvWI
— Joshy (@the_joshy_boy) January 18, 2024
Special special debut for Shamar Joseph, who leaves the field with a bow to the crowd. Test cricket needs these stories. I hope we get to see much more of him in the most enduring format #AusvWI
— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) January 18, 2024
Shamar Joseph is the 10th West Indian to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut. This one is one of the great stories. Was bowling with a taped ball just two years ago and grew up bowling with fruits in a small village!#AUSvWI
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) January 18, 2024
You called it @irbishi 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 what a player… Shamar Joseph!!! Exciting talent, just what @windiescricket needs & the world game @7Cricket
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) January 18, 2024
7th Test century for Travis Head 💛#cricket #AUSvWI #TravisHead #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/GuhyR4qvSf
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) January 18, 2024
Australia are all out for 283 – a lead of 95 runs. Shamar Joseph was the standout bowler with 5-94 #AUSvWI
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 18, 2024
