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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Geoff Lemon at Perth Stadium (earlier) and Rob Smyth (later)

Australia v England: Head blasts hosts to eight-wicket Ashes win in first Test inside two days – as it happened

Travis Head celebrates with Steve Smith after Australia’s win over England in the first Ashes Test
Travis Head celebrates with Steve Smith after Australia’s win over England in the first Ashes Test. Photograph: Gary Day/AP

Time to wrap things up on the second and final day of the first Test. The second and final day.

Thanks for your company and emails on both days of a mind-blowing Test match. Goodbye!

Updated

It is the UK that is living through a cold snap, but in balmy Perth they were playing in a snow globe. The scenery was static, solid, but everything else was constantly getting shaken up, bits flying in unpredictable directions. The crowd roared, commentators gibbered, the glitter never settled.

Unlike the first day England were not batting at the start, though they were not long delayed. At which point a pattern quickly emerged, one that almost perfectly repeated that established on the previous day, while also being completely different. The bowler who was useless was good, the marginal, unconvincing snickometer-based review that was not out was now given. Some things were both precisely the same (Australia’s tactics against England’s tail, how the tail reacted to Australia’s tactics) and also, at the same time, completely the opposite (the outcome).

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