Root and Head's batting mastery highlights Day 2 of 5th Ashes test

SYDNEY (AP) — Joe Root posted his second hundred of the series for England and Travis Head closed in on his third for Australia as Day 2 of the final Ashes test closed evenly poised on Monday.

England was bowled out just before tea for 364 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with Root leading with a masterful 160 for his best test score in Australia from his four Ashes tours.

At stumps, Australia was 166-2 in reply with Head again in imperious form as he slashed his way to 91 not out from 87 balls.

Ben Stokes took both wickets for England, which struggled to stem the flow of runs in the evening session before the wicket of the well-set Marnus Labuschagne late in the day.

Root showed all the composure of a 163-test veteran as he notched his 41st century off 146 balls, with 11 boundaries and celebrated with the same shrug gesture as when he broke through for his first hundred in four Ashes tours at Brisbane last month.

Australia retained the Ashes with wins in the first three tests, but England is coming off a drought-breaking win in the fourth test at Melbourne last week.

“I just felt like we’ve had some amazing support throughout this series and we’ve not been able to achieve what we set out to as a group, but at no point has that (support) ever wavered,” Root said. The celebration "is a way of saying thankyou.”

Root’s innings finally ended when he popped a return catch to Michael Neser, who dived across the pitch to grasp the ball just inches above the ground.

While his disappointment was evident as he walked from the field, he received a standing ovation from the near-capacity Sydney Cricket Ground in what may be his last tour of a country that had provided his greatest batting challenge.

Root is now level with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on the all-time list of test centurymakers. Only Sachin Tendulker (51) and Jacques Kallis (45) have more.

Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc made early breakthroughs Monday after Root and Harry Brook’s partnership had moved to 169 runs and was threatening to take the test away from the hosts.

Boland (2-85) ended Brook’s equal parts streaky and sublime innings at 84, with Steve Smith taking a sharp catch to bring to a close the best partnership of the series across both teams.

Starc (2-93) removed England skipper Stokes (0) for the fifth time this series with a near unplayable delivery that shaped away from the left-hander which took a thin edge on its way through to Alex Carey.

Jamie Smith made an enterprising, and at times fortunate, 46 before he holed-out to the part-time medium pace of Labuschagne.

Root and Jacks then combined for 54-run partnership before Neser's (4-60) three quick strikes wrapped up the innings.

Australia's innings got off to a fast start with Head and Jake Weatherald raising 50 in just the 10th over.

Stokes (2-30) entered the attack to stem the runs and soon had Weatherald (21) trapped lbw to have Australia at 57-1.

Head continued the attack and raised his 50 from 55 balls and soon after passed 500 runs for the series, at a strike rate above 87.

“Every ball he (Head) is looking to score,” Neser said. “He is not trying to work it around or grind it out. And most times he creates more opportunities than normal batters, because he is so talented.”

Labuschagne also found form and with Head plundered a 105-run partnership in quick time.

In the fading light, Labuschagne and Stokes had a verbal exchange across several overs with the England captain showing and voicing his displeasure at the Australian's delaying tactics.

Stokes eventually had Labuschagne (48) caught at gully and Australia was 162-2.

Neser went in as nightwatchman for 15 minutes and took a painful blow on the elbow in the final over.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne reacts after he was dismissed during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne reacts after he was dismissed during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Travis Head bats during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's captain Steve Smith, left, talks to teammate Mitchell Starc during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

England's Josh Tongue is out bowled during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

England's Joe Root celebrates after scoring a century during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Michael Neser celebrates after dismissing England's Joe Root during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

England's Joe Root reacts after scoring 150 runs during play on day two of the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in international waters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday. In addition to striking Tehran, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel.

As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spirals, the U.S. Senate rejected a war powers measure demanding congressional approval before further attacks. A twin House bill faces the same long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, and Trump would almost certainly veto it anyway.

The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 50 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The United Nations says 100,000 people fled the Iranian capital in the war’s first two days alone.

Oil prices have soared following Iranian attacks on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy. U.S. stocks appeared steadier at Wednesday’s opening.

Here is the latest:

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said Wednesday she opposed the war powers resolution. Collins said in a statement that it’s important for lawmakers to back the U.S. military because of the threat poses by a nuclear Iran.

“We cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. The Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities, ballistic missile development, and support for terrorist proxies pose serious and longstanding threats to the national security of the United States and our allies,” Collins said.

Senate Republicans voted down an effort to halt Trump’s war against Iran, demonstrating early support for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear U.S. exit strategy.

The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, failed on a 47-53 vote tally.

Two near-simultaneous drone strikes hit vehicles traveling in opposite directions along Beirut’s coastal Airport Road on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding six, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it targeted a Hezbollah member. The cars burst into flames, with video from the scene showing one wounded man lying on the pavement as bystanders gathered nearby.

Lebanese officials say more than 70 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the latest escalation with Hezbollah began three days ago. Those include at least one Hezbollah intelligence official and a senior Palestinian militant.

“If Congress wants war, then the speaker should hold a vote to declare it,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, an outlier in the Republican Party.

He joined with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to push forward a war powers resolution in the House that would halt Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran without approval from Congress.

Khanna during a floor speech called it “a profoundly moral vote.”

GOP lawmakers maintain that Trump is well with his authority to send the U.S. military into combat.

Senate Democrats are trying to underscore the gravity of the moment as they cast votes on legislation that would halt President Donald Trump from carrying out further attacks on Iran.

They have filled the Senate chamber and are sitting at their desks as the vote gets underway. During typical votes, senators stop into the chamber to cast their vote, then leave.

Senate Democrats stood when their names were called to say yay or nay, while the Republican side of the chamber was mostly empty.

Republicans have already signaled they will oppose the measure.

Israel’s Home Front Command said workplaces may reopen and gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed if there is nearby shelter starting Thursday at noon, although schools will remain closed.

The nationwide shutdown, imposed when the war began Saturday, is being loosened as the Israeli military says incoming missile fire has dropped in recent days.

However, Israelis are still “spending a lot of time in shelters,” acknowledged Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a military spokesperson.

At a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Dan Caine, said that the number of ballistic missiles fired off by Iran is down by 86% from the first day of the war, and that there’s been a 23% drop in the last 24 hours.

Republican senators, who hold a majority in the chamber, have almost all said they will vote against the war powers legislation, but the effort has forced a debate on the Iran conflict in the Senate.

It’s also putting senators on the record as they look ahead to midterm elections and the consequences of a conflict that has spread rapidly across the Middle East.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that attacks on Turkey’s territory are unacceptable and pledged full U.S. support after an Iranian missile headed toward the country was shot down, the State Department said Wednesday.

The Senate is preparing for an afternoon vote on the measure that would prevent Trump’s ability to continue engaging the U.S. military in hostilities against Iran without approval from Congress.

And in the House, which is set to vote Thursday, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered a lengthy speech calling out the Trump administration’s shifting rationale for the attack.

“Why is the president unwilling or unable to make his case directly to the American people?” the leader asked.

“The president has a responsibility to justify plunging America into another war,” Jeffries said.

Both resolutions are expected to fail in Congress, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a slim majority and largely backs the military operation in Iran.

Ibrahim Jawdat woke around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday when a drone exploded beside his family’s home in Irbil, shattering windows and spraying glass across his bed.

Neighbor Hawkar Hadi’s house was also damaged, with broken windows and shrapnel lodged in walls and furniture.

“It’s difficult to be a victim of a war that we’re not part of,” he said. “We’re paying the cost of things we didn’t do.”

Iran and allied Iraqi militias have fired missiles and drones at U.S. bases and the U.S. consulate in Irbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Most have been intercepted, though some have fallen in residential areas.

There have been more than 100 attacks on Irbil since the war began, Gov. Omed Khoshnaw told reporters Wednesday, and he urged Baghdad to compensate residents for damage.

More than 6,400 South Africans have registered on a system opened for citizens to advise the government of their location, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The ministry said it was urging its citizens to depart on the limited number of commercial flights that have resumed.

United Nations peacekeepers said Wednesday they observed rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel and Israeli military activity and airstrikes near several villages.

Both sides are in violation of a 2006 U.N. Security Council ceasefire, according to the peacekeeping force, while Israel is also breaching Lebanon’s sovereignty. The 7,500-strong force said it remains on the ground in southern Lebanon.

Israel’s military said Wednesday that its air force had destroyed Iranian ballistic missile sites in the west and central parts of the country, hitting the infrastructure being used to launch projectiles toward Israeli territory.

Iran’s barrages of ballistic missiles toward Israel have slowed and been mostly intercepted, however some have gotten through Israel’s defenses, causing damage and killing around a dozen people. Some experts say Iran may be holding its weapons in reserve to prolong the conflict.

The president opened his remarks at an unrelated White House event on artificial intelligence that the U.S. is “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.”

Trump said someone asked him to rate on a scale of 10 how well he thought the U.S. was doing and said, “about a 15.”

The ongoing strikes deepen an “unprecedented state of hostility” with Iran's neighbors in the Gulf, said Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit in a statement Wednesday.

He demanded Tehran stop the attacks, which he called a “strategic mistake,” saying “Iran must come to its senses.”

The Arab League, made up of 22 member states, promotes regional cooperation. However, it is widely seen as toothless and has long struggled to help solve conflicts.

The Israeli military says the strikes on the Iranian capital are targeting “military infrastructure.”

U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Iran so far.

In his first public address since joining the war, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said the Lebanese militant group rejects the government’s plan to disarm its fighters.

“As long as the (Israeli) occupation is present, then the resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right,” Kassem said.

Lebanon’s leaders say Hezbollah’s rocket fire into Israel is illegal and urged the Lebanese army to crack down on groups possessing weapons outside state control.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped military, backed by the U.S. and other governments, has been deploying in recent months across southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong military presence. However, it’s unclear if the army is able or willing to disarm Hezbollah by directly confronting them.

The U.N. refugee agency, basing its estimates on Iranian officials, also said around 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles per day were reported leaving the capital, mostly toward the north.

Geneva-based UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch said the latest reports on Wednesday indicated no increase in cross-border movements linked to the recent conflict “but the situation remains fluid.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Wednesday denied that the government had changed its position on supporting the U.S. military operations against Iran, contradicting a White House spokesperson.

“I can refute (the White House spokesperson),” Albares told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. “The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombing of Iran and the use of our bases has not changed one iota.”

Albares spoke in Madrid shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that Spain had changed its position and “they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military.”

The Israeli military said the two were wounded Wednesday by anti-tank fire while operating in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah says its fighters attacked Israeli troops advancing toward the village of Khiyam and released video showing a missile striking a tank.

Israel said Tuesday its forces were moving deeper into Lebanon to establish “forward defensive positions” to protect northern Israel.

The president’s top spokeswoman pushed back against criticisms that the administration didn’t do enough to ensure Americans could leave the Middle East following the U.S. war in Iran.

Leavitt insisted that “there have been plans in place” and that the State Department has been clear to those in the region to leave immediately.

“We will help every single American who wants to come home if they’re making that request of the State Department,” she said.

Leavitt also said a State Department hotline that told callers not to rely on help from the U.S. government to leave the region has been corrected.

Asked if Trump thinks that Americans support the Israel-U.S. war in Iran — even though Trump hasn’t given a national address to personally make the case — Leavitt said, “I think he does.”

“This was a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies and our people for 47 years,” she said. “And the American people are smart enough to know that, and they’re smart enough to listen to the president himself — not just over the past year, in the second term, but during his first term as president.”

Recent polling shows that, prior to the U.S.-Israel strikes that started last weekend, 61% of Americans said Iran was an “enemy” of the U.S., but only about 3 in 10 Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump.

The White House on Wednesday said Spain has agreed to cooperate with U.S. operations in the Mideast after Trump had threatened to cut off trade with Madrid.

“With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “And it’s my understanding over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the US military. And so I know that the US military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain.”

Trump on Tuesday said he was going to “cut off all trade with Spain,” the day after Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said his country would not allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations’ charter.

Leavitt said she would not take away military options on behalf of the president by ruling it out, saying that leaders in the past take options off the table “without having a full understanding of how things could develop.”

“It’s not part of the current plan, but I’m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table,” Leavitt said.

Tracer rounds light the sky as people fire live rounds into the air during a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A man inspects a damaged house struck by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Hatzor HaGlilit, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Exposing himself to the danger of unexploded ordnance, a boy tries to climb on an unexploded Iranian projectile that landed in an open field in the outskirts of Qamishli, eastern Syria, Wednesday, March 4, 2026.(AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)

Shiite Muslims shout slogans during a candlelit protest against the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A cleric leads a group of volunteers in prayer next to a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A group of men inspect the ruins of a police station struck Monday amid the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The sun sets behind a plume of smoke rising after a U.S.–Israeli military strike in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, speak during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Konstantin Toropin)

A man carries an Iranian flag to place on the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign is seen in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Workers remove the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man carries an Iranian flag to place on the rubble of a police facility struck during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Iranian flag is placed among the ruins of a police station struck Monday during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Firefighters inspect the rubble as smoke rises from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Jewish men covered in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in what Iranian officials said was an Israeli-U.S. strike Feb. 28 at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP)

A man takes shelter in an underground metro station as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Ramat Gan, Israel Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)