SA vs AUS, WTC Final 2025: Has Travis Head flattered to deceive when Australia needed him the most?

Travis Head faltered in the WTC Final vs South Africa despite past ICC knockout success. Scores of 13 and 9 deepened Australia’s middle-order woes. Expected to anchor the innings, Head struggled to cope with the seaming conditions at Lord’s.

Australia’s middle-order batter, Travis Head, failed to put up a performance in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final against South Africa at Lord’s on Thursday, June 12. Australia resumed their batting after bundling out South Africa for 138 on Day 2 of the WTC Final.

The defending champions assumed their second innings batting by carrying a healthy 74-run lead from their first-innings total of 211. However, things went haywire for Australia as their top-order batters collapsed under pressure, enabling the Proteas to claw their way back into the contest. The likes of Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Beau Webster failed to apply themselves at the crease, falling cheaply, leaving the middle and lower-order so much to do.

Travis Head has been in focus during the World Test Championship as the flamboyant left-handed batter was expected to provide stability and counter-attacking innings in the middle-order, but his failure raised concerns about his temperament in high-pressure finals.

Travis Head failed in a big way

Travis Head has been a reliable batter for Australia over the last few years, which can be evidenced by his performance in the World Test Championship Final 2023 against India, where he scored a match-winning 163 in the first innings at The Oval, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he was the highest run-getter of the series with 448 runs, includina century each in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Travis Head has played at the No.5 batting spot since his debut in 2018 and provided stability with his aggressive yet composed approach, often turning the tide in Australia’s favour with timely knocks in challenging conditions. Australia might have expected a similar performance from Travis Head at the Lord’s showdown. However, the expectations were dwarfed by his inability to adapt to the seaming conditions.

In the first innings, Head walked in when Australia collapsed to 46/3 after Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket and was hoping to form a good partnership with Steve Smith. However, the southpaw’s stay at the crease was ended by Marco Jansen for 13. In the second innings, the southpaw walked in to bat when Australia were 44/3 and yet again, failed to deliver as he was bowled out by Wiaan Mulder for nine runs, leaving Australia further reeling at a critical juncture in the match.

Head’s twin failures deepen Australia’s middle-order woes

Travis Head’s failure to step up for Australia in a crucial situation has again ignited questions over his inability to deliver when the stakes are the highest. The southpaw struggled to get on in seaming conditions, where pacers were extracting movement off the pitch and testing the batters’ patience and technique with relentless accuracy.

Despite being one of the most dependable batters for Australia, his twin failures in the Lord’s showdown have proved costly for Australia, as the team management expected him to step up and anchor the innings, while providing stability in the middle-order, a role he embraced in the past but failed to replicate when it mattered the most.

In a contest where reputations are built or broken, Head’s inconsistency in testing English conditions has left Australia vulnerable and under pressure heading into the final days of the WTC Final 2025.

Australia hope to set a challenging target for South Africa

Australia were collapsed to 73/7 after the wickets of Steve Smith (13), Beau Webster (9), Travis Head (9), and Pat Cummins (6). However, the defending champions have kept a slim hope of a fightback alive, thanks to a gritty lower-order resistance led by Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, who stretched the lead to 200 runs and give their bowlers something to defend in the final innings at Lord’s

Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc stitched a crucial 61-run partnership for the eighth wicket to take the team past a 200-run lead until the former was dismissed for 43 off 50 balls. Thereafter, Starc was joined by Nathan Lyon to carry on the team’s innings.

The target of over 200 is likely to be challenging for South Africa, who were bundled out for 134 in the first innings. At the close of Day 2, Australia posted a total of 144/8 in 40 overs, along with a 218-run lead, with Starc and Lyon batting on 16 and 1, respectively.