Australia is inching closer to sealing the five-match test series of The Ashes 2025-26 with a 3-0 victory after setting a mammoth 435 target against England. Thanks to Travis Head’s destructive century of 170 runs from 219 balls (including 16 fours and 2 sixes) that ensured the hosts took a dominating 400+ run lead at the Adelaide Oval.

Additionally, Alex Carey’s 128-ball-72 runs (including 6 fours) and Usman Khawaja’s 40 runs off 51 balls (including 4 fours) revived the Aussies from a collapsing start.

England, in a must-win game, now has an uphill task to chase a massive target, having lost two wickets instantly on Day 04.

Head’s Nervous 11th Test Ton and Dropped Catch

Travis Head, on 99 runs, had to wait for nine balls to achieve his 11th test century. However, the left-handed batter overcame his nervousness and smacked the ball towards the backward point to smash a sensational ton in his test cricket career.

For the unversed, Head was dropped on 99 by Harry Brook. The Australian batter struck the ball at the gully, and it was a golden chance for Brook to silence the entire home crowd.

The 54,000 set of spectators who were tensed with every dot ball burst out of laughter and took a deep breath when Travis accomplished his century on a thrilling note.

Head was in complete control by remaining unbeaten on 142 at the end of Day 03 (December 19). However, Josh Tongue dismissed him on Day 04 (December 20) as Australia’s innings was wrapped up to 349 in 84.4 overs.

Travis Head’s Sensational Test Record After Don Bradman

For the fourth consecutive time, Travis Head smashed a century at the Adelaide Oval, thereby becoming the fourth Australian cricketer to achieve this feat at a single venue in Australia.

Head’s Performance in the Last Four Tests at The Adelaide Oval

Interestingly, Travis Head, in his last four test matches at the Adelaide Oval, scored 586 runs in 6 innings, and here is a detailed breakdown:

England’s Bowling Attack Ineffective Against Travis Head

Josh Tongue (4/70 in 18 overs) and Brydon Carse (3/80 in 20 overs) delivered a top-notch performance for England. Also, Will Jacks (1/107 in 19 overs), Ben Stokes (1/26 in 7 overs), and Jofra Archer (1/20 in 12.4 overs) played a supportive role to the bowling unit.

However, the Australian batting line-up, spearheaded by Travis Head, ripped apart the visitors’ bowling attack. Although the 31-year-old fell short of 30 runs in registering his maiden test century, he played a game-changing knock that turned the luck in Australia’s favor.

HEAD-ache for England? Another Ashes Series Loss Loading!

England won its last Ashes series back in the 2015-16 season, that also favored by the benefits of playing at home. Since then, the team played the five-match test series against Australia four times, having lost two of them, with the remaining two ending in a draw.

Under Ben Stokes’ captaincy, the team is on the verge of securing its third loss in The Ashes against Australia in the past 10 years.

As of now, Australia is leading the Ashes 2025-26 with a 2-0 scoreline and is in a dominant position to add another victory.

England is currently trailing by 300+ runs, and if their innings get wrapped up on Saturday (December 20), then Australia would win the Ashes in just 10 days of the competition. This would indeed mark the fastest record achieved by any team in an Ashes series since 1920-21, Australia secured a 5-0 win in just 8 days.

Former England Cricketer About Head’s 170-Run Knock

According to former England bowler Graeme Smith’s opinion, Travis Head easily compiled runs by getting off to a positive start:

“Yeah! It was indeed an easy start; he (speaking about Head) got off. You see, there was a big gap behind the square on the offside, and the ball easily travelled over there. A player of Travis Head’s caliber can execute shots late at the back foot. The bowlers should have bowled fuller deliveries to motivate him to play the drive, which could have been harder and riskier for him,” Smith said.

The 44-year-old’s analysis proves factual as Head scored the majority of his tons in test cricket when he got off to an easy start to his innings against any opponent.