"No flat track no party for the great Joe Root" - Twitter blasts England star for another failure in 5th Ashes Test

Joe Root was cleaned up for just five runs off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood to leave the side three down inside the first session on Day 1 of the final Ashes Test at the Oval. The 32-year-old tried to access his favorite third-man region with a dab, but the delivery jagged back in to hit timber.

Faced with a must-win encounter to keep their proud unbeaten Test series record at home for 22 years against Australia intact, England were off to the perfect start. The openers raced away to 62/0 in no time before the visitors struck back thrice, with Root being the last of the three, to reduce England to 73/3 in the 16th over.

Arguably England's best Test batter, Joe Root has struggled after a prolific start to the Ashes series. Following his 118 and 46 in the first Test, the champion batter scored just 157 runs in the rest of the matches so far.

Despite an average of almost 46 for the series, Root's average has dropped to 26 since the second Test. He has also struggled mightily against Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, with the duo dismissing the right-hander a combined 21 times in Tests.

Root has also struggled in Ashes series throughout his career, with an average of under 40 in 34 Tests.

Considering the magnitude of the series and this game, fans on Twitter slammed Joe Root for his lazy dismissal and overall showing in the series since the opening Test.

England stage a recovery after three quick wickets at Lunch on Day 1

Australian skipper Pat Cummins won his first toss of the series and decided to field first in a surprising decision because of the overhead conditions and the heavy cloud cover.

The decision appeared to be backfiring when the English openers blazed away to 62 runs inside the first hour. However, three wickets in quick succession left the home side reeling at 73/3. Mitchell Marsh broke the opening partnership, followed by a wicket each from Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

As it seemed like the Aussies would steamroll the English lineup, Harry Brook counter-attacked and wrestled the initiative back with the hosts. With Moeen Ali for company, the duo added 58 runs in no time to lead England to 131/3 at lunch.

Brook has motored to 48 off 41 deliveries, while Ali has looked solid, batting on 10 from 28 deliveries.

Australia boasts tremendous recent memories of the Oval, defeating India last month to win the World Test Championship (WTC) final. They will look to double their jubilation with their first series win in England since 2001 at the venue.

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Venkatesh has been writing cricket news, listicle and feature articles for Sportskeeda for over a year. He loves cricket because of the diversity of the playing fields and its unparalleled nuances, which no other sport presents. He also enjoys the analytical and quantitative side of the sport, which originates from his MBA degree and 10 years of experience in the IT industry in companies like Infosys, Atos and TCS.

Venkatesh ensures proper research from reliable sources and social media trends to gather information, and adds his own dash of creativity to create insightful content.

He started watching cricket in the late 1990s, having been impressed with South Africa and New Zealand’s gentleman-like attitude. Domestically, he supports the Chennai Super Kings for their ability to bring the best out of their players owing to a friendly and conducive team environment.

He admires three cricketers the most – Brian Lara for his batting style, AB de Villiers for changing the paradigm of batting and MS Dhoni for his unique cerebral approach to field placings and batting. Along with cricket, Venkatesh also enjoys watching and playing tennis and basketball. In his free time, he finds pleasure in singing and watching movies and web series.

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