After taking four wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Travis Head indicated his off-spin would be incorporated into Australia’s strategy for the second Test.
Travis Head, the Australian batsman who took four wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka, says his off-spin would be incorporated into the team’s strategy for the second Test. During Friday’s three-day thumping of the hosts at Galle, Head, a left-hander and occasional bowler, matched Nathan Lyon’s second innings wicket aggregate of 4-10 with his 4-10. Before the start of the first Test, the middle-order batsman was deemed fit after missing the fifth ODI owing to a hamstring issue.
Ahead of kickoff, the 28-year-old Galle all-rounder claimed he was clear about his position on the turning pitch.
For a few days prior to the Test, “bowling was a significant part of the waiting game,” he said.
For me and Marnus (Labuschagne), the two spinners, all the bowlers performed a terrific job and I didn’t have to do a thing.”
And it will be a major factor in the upcoming Test, he said. At that point in the first Test, “I had no intention of bowling,” he said.
He came in to bowl the 19th over in Sri Lanka’s second innings, where they were at 95-4 after a 109-run deficit.
After 26 Test appearances, Dinesh Chandimal was bowled out on the second ball by the finger spinner.
It took him three deliveries to fool Dhananjaya de Silva, as the batsman offered no shot on a ball that hit his pad and was adjudged leg before wicket.
It wasn’t long until Lyon picked up nine wickets in the match, and Head’s two wickets in his third over wiped out the Sri Lankan middle order to dismiss them for 113 runs.
After the team’s 10-wicket victory to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, Cummins lauded Head’s bowling performance.
He’s always up for a round of bowling.” “He’s got four wickets now,” remarked Cummins.
When we decided to include Travis on the team because he could both bat and bowl, we were pleased with the results.
When de Silva’s spin caught and bowled Head for six in the first innings, Head claimed that his primary purpose was to score runs.
As Head put it, “I thought my lead-up was excellent, but I just made a mistake.”
In the nets, “it’s incredible what you can accomplish, but it’s about getting out and doing the same.”
The second Test begins on Friday at the same location as the first.
