Records tumble in third-shortest Ashes Test

A Test match for the ages

6 Ashes Tests have ended inside the scheduled first two days of play. This is the first such instance in over 100 years and the first ever Down Under. The last time it happened was at Trent Bridge in 1921, which happens to be the only such Test since the start of the 20th century.

Ashes Tests ending inside two days

Lord's, 1888

The Oval, 1888

Manchester, 1888

The Oval, 1890

Nottingham, 1921

Perth, 2025

847 -Balls bowled in the Perth Test - the third shortest in terms of balls bowled in Ashes contests and shortest ever on Australian soil. Both shorter Tests came in the 1888 Ashes series in England: 788 balls at Old Trafford and 792 at Lord's. The previous shortest Ashes Test in Australia lasted 911 balls, at the SCG in 1894/95.

Shortest Ashes Tests by balls bowled

405-Balls faced by England across the two innings: 32.5 overs in the first innings and 34.4 overs in the second innings. It is the third shortest they faced in a Test where they got bowled out twice after 325 balls at the MCG in 1904 and 388 balls at Lord's in 1888.

7.23 - Run rate for Australia in their fourth innings chase - the highest ever in a successful chase of 200 or more in Tests, which has been done 140 times. They only took 28.2 overs to get to the target of 205, eclipsing the previous highest of 5.98 by England when they chased down 299 against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022.

3- This was the fourth instance of a team successfully chasing down a 200+ target in fourth innings, after each of the first three innings of the Test ending in under 200. The previous instances came in Johannesburg in 1906 and Mirpur in 2008.

9- Consecutive defeats for England in Perth - across the two venues, WACA and Perth Stadium. They lost eight in a row at the WACA between 1990/91 and 2017/18 and this happens to be their first Test at Perth Stadium, where they became the first side in six games to lose after batting first.

Travis Head rewrites record books

69 balls by Head makes it the joint fastest in terms of balls faced by an opening batter in the history of Test cricket. Head equaled David Warner, who hit a 69-ball ton against India at the WACA in 2012.

Fastest 100s in Test cricket

1 - There is only one faster century in Ashes Tests than Head's 69-ball effort: Adam Gilchrist hit a 57-ball century at the WACA in 2006. Head's effort makes it the fastest ever in fourth innings chases in Tests eclipsing a century-old record of England's Gilbert Jessop, who smashed a 76-ball hundred against Australia at the Oval in 1902.

21.3- The point in Australia's innings where Head reached his century. Only two batters have got to the three-figure score earlier in an innings, where ball by ball details available: Roy Fredericks in the last ball of the 17th over (eight-ball overs) in 1975 and David Warner in the fourth ball off the 19th over against India in 2012, both instances coming at the WACA ground.

123 by Head is the highest ever by an opener in the fourth innings of an Ashes Test in the 21st century. There have only been two other hundreds by openers in the fourth innings of the Ashes in this time frame: 116 by Alastiar Cook at the WACA in 2006 and 116 by Chris Rogers at the MCG in 2013.

Other numbers from the day's play

10/113 by Mitchell Starc in the Test: 7/58 and 3/55 makes him the first Australian bowler since Shane Warne at the Kennington Oval in 2005 to get a ten-wicket haul in Ashes Tests. The last Australian seamer to do the same was Craig McDermott (11/157) at the WACA in 1991.

4- Zak Crawley became the fourth English opener to bag a pair in Ashes contests after Trevor Bailey in Melbourne in 1959, Denis Amiss in Adelaide in 1975, and Michael Atherton in Melbourne in 1998.

1639 balls taken by Scott Boland to get to his 50th Test wicket at home makes him the fastest ever to get to the milestone in Australia. Only three other bowlers have got to the landmark in a country in fewer balls, all in South Africa: Vernon Philander (1383 balls), Kagiso Rabada (1548 balls), and Marco Jansen (1633 balls).