Travis Head Gears Up For England ODIs With Match-Winning Fifty

With the One-Day International series against England just a few days away, Travis Head warmed-up for it with a timely match-winning fifty for his side Adelaide Strikers against Melbourne Stars on Tuesday (January 9).

The left-handed batsman scored 53 off just 32 balls as the Strikers comfortably chased down 152 with eight wickets in hand. The win helped the Strikers to reclaim the top spot in the Big Bash League table. Head was looking set to continue his run of mediocre scores when he skied one while batting on just 17. However, Stars’ skipper John Hastings failed to hold on to the catch and Head went on to score a fine fifty. The knock followed scores of 36, 29, 13, 44 and 12 and would have given the southpaw the much-needed confidence ahead of the five-match ODI series.

“I had a few starts and a couple of silly mistakes in the first couple of games and then just some poor execution in the last couple,” Head said on Tuesday (January 9) after his last appearance for the club before he joins the Australian ODI squad in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Head admitted that he was disappointed on squandering the starts before expressing his delight over scoring the fifty.

“I’ve been a little bit disappointed with how I’ve played, I’ve got starts and the first time I’ve tried to accelerate I haven’t been able to get it right,” he said.

“So tonight it was nice to have a little bit of luck, but I am hitting the ball nicely and getting to the stage where I’m playing really well, so it was nice to capitalise a bit tonight,” he added. “I was disappointed not to get not out and win the game, but nice to get a personal score and to get us over the line in my last game, because I hadn’t done much prior to tonight.”

Head further said Glenn Maxwell is disappointed over not being selected in the ODI squad. Maxwell was a surprise omission from the squad that was announced last week but has been tipped to be recalled as Australia are set to announce a replacement for the injured Chris Lynn. Maxwell, who entered the Big Bash League as Sheffield Shield’s highest run-scorer, once again issued a timely reminder with a 39-ball 60 runs knock against the Strikers.

“We’ll have to see what happens, Maxwell’s not in the squad at the minute and I know he’s disappointed,” Head said.

“It’s great to have such a strong (Australian) batting line-up, the guys are in form at the minute. We’ve got Mitch Marsh coming back in, who’s hitting Test hundreds, everyone is demanding their spot which is fantastic for Australian cricket,” he added.

Meanwhile, South African Colin Ingram will lead the Strikers in Head’s absence.

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