New Delhi: Englands captain Ben Stokes admitted that his team were left shellshocked by Travis Heads explosive 69-ball century which completely shifted the momentum of the first Ashes Test in Perth. Australia rose above the chaos of the earlier three innings and cruised to an eight-wicket win with three full days still remaining. Head played a blistering knock of 123 off 83 and completely snatched the momentum from England who had appeared firmly in control at lunch on Day 2 at 65 for 1 leading by 99 with nine wickets still remaining. But a disastrous collapse of 4 wickets for just 11 runs in 19 balls triggered by a superb spell from Scott Boland put Australia in the drivers seat again. Englands lower order did manage to post 205 the highest score of the match but Heads elevation to the top in Usman Khawajas absence turned out to be a masterstroke. He arrived with full intent as he played an explosive knock guiding Australia to the target in only 28.2 overs. Ben Stokes praised Travis Head for his match-winning knock Ben Stokes couldnt help but admire Australias match-winner during the post-match presentation Were a little bit shellshocked there Stokes told the host broadcaster. That innings from Travis Head was pretty phenomenal. Its quite raw quite fresh at the moment but geez that was some knock. Its knocked the wind out of us. When asked whether he regretted Englands attacking approach in their second innings especially the rash shots from Ollie Pope Harry Brook and Joe Root during the post-lunch collapse Stokes said he had no issues with the strategy itself. He pointed out that Heads innings proved the method could work but admitted England fell short in their execution. If you look at the way the game eked out the guys who seemed to have success out there with bat in hand were the guys who were really brave and took the game on Stokes said. Anyone who tried to stay around there and try and occupy the crease didnt really seem to have too much success. On wickets like this you never think youve got enough so if you find yourself in a position where youre the guy whos managed to get in try and give yourself the best chance of going on. There was a lot of assistance there when the bowlers put the ball in the right areas. The guys who were brave enough to knock the bowlers off their lengths seem to find success on that. England were completely overwhelmed by Heads remarkable performance In the end England were completely overwhelmed by Heads remarkable assault. When asked what else he could have done to stop such a dominant innings Stokes responded We tried three or four different plans at him. When he was going like a train those plans can change quite quickly because those runs were coming down quickly. Ive seen Travis play a lot of knocks like that whether it be in Test cricket or white-ball cricket. Hes very hard to stop. With the match ending in just two days England now have nearly two weeks to get ready for the day-night Test in Brisbane starting December 4. Stokes acknowledged that the team would need to recover from a heavy defeat but pointed out that the strong showing of their five-man pace attack in the first innings offered some positives to build on for the remainder of the series. Stokes acknowledged that the team would need to recover from a heavy defeat The way in which we bowled yesterday was simply phenomenal Stokes said. A lot happened on day one 19 wickets fell so it was a good day for the bowlers. This is a very tough one to get the series going when we felt we were in control of the game and we were coming out there to bowl in that fourth innings. Weve got four more games here. Well obviously let this sink in. Obviously it hurts extremely but we got to get our heads round and move on to Brisbane and then hit the ground running there.
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