Australia registered an emphatic win by 8 wickets England in the first test of The Ashes 2025-26 in Perth, especially after an impressive all-round performance Mitchell Starc And travis headEngland, who were all out for 172 in their first innings, continued to struggle in their second innings, with Starc again taking the lead, Head’s explosive innings of 123 runs, along with marnus labuschagneThanks to a steady 51*, Australia achieved the target of 205 runs in just 28.2 overs. Starc’s 7 wickets in both innings earned him the Player of the Match award, while England suffered a poor performance, being bowled out for 164 in their second innings.
Ashes 2025-26: Mitchell Starc’s impressive bowling performance for Australia
Starc performed brilliantly for Australia, taking 7 wickets for 58 runs in England’s first innings and 3 wickets for 55 runs in the second innings. His aggressive spell in the first innings set the tone by dismissing the leading English batsmen. jack crawley, Joe Root And ben stokesIn England’s second innings, Starc once again performed well, taking important wickets and restricting England to 76/5, His disciplined line and length as well as his ability to swing the ball both ways made him a nightmare for the English batsmen throughout the match, Starc’s performance was a key factor in Australia’s dominant win, providing early breakthroughs in both innings and keeping the pressure on England,
Ashes 2025-26: England’s batting collapse: A tale of missed opportunities
England’s batting was especially disappointing in the first innings. Despite a solid score of 46 Ollie Pope and struggling with 52 harry brookThe England team was out on a paltry score of 172 runs. backed up stark’s deadly spell cameron greenEngland lost wickets regularly due to the sole wicket and some successes from Brendan Doggett. His second innings was not very good and he was out for just 164 runs. ben duckett28 more Gus AtkinsonThe 37s were the only bright spot, but they weren’t enough to prevent another collapse. Root’s second innings failure (8) and the dismissal of key middle-order players were turning points, with England failing to form any significant partnerships under pressure.
Ashes 2025-26: Travis Head’s match-winning innings on the second day in Perth
In response to England’s second innings target of 205 runs, Head played a match-winning inning of 123 runs off 83 balls. Head’s aggressive strokeplay and excellent power-hitting led Australia to victory with 16 fours and 4 sixes. His opening partnership with Jake Weatherald (23) helped Australia recover from an early wobble at 75/1, and Head’s relentless attack on the England bowlers gave them little chance of a comeback. His innings was a perfect example of chasing a challenging score under pressure, as he accelerated Australia’s run rate throughout the innings. With Labuschagne providing the anchor at the other end, Head led his team to an impressive victory.
Ashes 2o25-26: Marnus Labuschagne’s calm approach and Australia’s stunning win
LabuschagneK’s 51* ensured that Australia reached their target without any further hindrances. While Head was providing the fireworks, Labuschagne played the role of a steady anchor, rotating the strike and keeping the scoreboard moving. Australia’s 8-wicket victory was dictated by the combined efforts of their bowlers and batsmen, with Starc’s brilliance with the ball and Head’s explosive batting winning the match. England’s inability to build partnerships in both innings, as well as their weak bowling performance, left them with no answer to Australia’s all-round dominance. With this comprehensive win, Australia took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, and made a strong statement to start the 2025 Ashes campaign.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Travis Head 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽#Ashes2025 pic.twitter.com/OzdLGl2stE
– DK (@DineshKarthik) 22 November 2025
Travis Head🔥🔥. #Ashes2025
England don’t seem to have the answers.
– Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) 22 November 2025
Travis Head’s name is 🫡#PlayWithFire , #AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/jgLJR6CbvL
– Sunrisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) 22 November 2025
England made huge mistakes with the bat in the beginning of the Ashes series in 2023… They went 2-0 down… They made exactly the same mistakes here too… It is extremely disappointing…
– Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 22 November 2025
Be it the spinning ball or the now fast and bouncy wicket, my tweet from last week rings true again – the batsmen’s technique these days is at fault for Test match cricket.
And, like I said, who cares, because this isn’t where their bread is buttered and you can’t blame them!
enjoy…
– Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) 22 November 2025
I have a headache.
Incredible century by @travishead24 – One of the great Ashes innings, considering the match situation. But God, England didn’t come today – it’s very disappointing. pic.twitter.com/HGgRIxdj95– Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) 22 November 2025
Mitchell Starc won the Pottom Award. pic.twitter.com/ZnkSH2Vvu5
– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) 22 November 2025
🚨Mitchell Starc – Player of the Match 🚨
– 7 wickets in the first innings.
– 3 wickets in the second innings. pic.twitter.com/dUnDtBiEo0– Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) 22 November 2025
Hang on!
Is it really a cunning plan for England to lose every Test in two days, bankrupt Cricket Australia due to all the refunds, and then win all subsequent Ashes series by default?
Rob’s – Machiavellian genius? pic.twitter.com/ObmcIBzol8
– RumblePants (@WG_RumblePats) 22 November 2025
👏 Australia’s first place in the Ashes!
Strong win by 8 wickets in the first test, Australia leads 1-0, dominates England on the second day in Perth!
Scorecard: https://t.co/58Y8AP9b8n#Cricket #ash #TravisHead #Australia #england #perthtest pic.twitter.com/oH6g54nGVj
– CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) 22 November 2025
