Watch: Joe Root drags one onto the stumps off Josh Hazlewood's bowling to depart for just 5 runs in 5th Ashes Test
England batter Joe Root's shaky form continued after being dismissed for just five runs in the first innings of the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Thursday (July 27). The former captain was bowled after trying to work a Josh Hazlewood delivery in his patented fashion towards third man.
Root came into bat at 66-2 following Zak Crawley's dismissal in the 13th over. He joined Moeen Ali at the crease, who was also new to the crease. After dominating the first half of the session against the new ball, the onus was on the pair to rebuild the innings.
The ace batter looked in good touch after a sublime boundary off Pat Cummins in the 15th over, but his dismissal came in the very next over itself. He tried to guide the ball towards third man in an innocuous fashion, but the right-arm pacer's delivery jagged back inwards a bit after pitching, bringing the inside edge into play.
Root was distraught after the dismissal while Hazlewood celebrated with his teammates.
Watch the wicket right here:
"Australia are ROARING back into this one!" 🌪️
Josh Hazlewood gets the BIG wicket of Joe Root! pic.twitter.com/5djCS0hgrx
England were poised comfortably at 62-0 in the 12th over, but Australia have clawed their way back into the contest with a flurry of wickets. While the visitors have been sloppy in the field with several dropped catches, the hosts have failed to make the most of their chances.
Joe Root has scored 321 runs in eight innings during 2023 Ashes so far
The ace batter began the series on an imperious note, scoring a hundred in the first innings of the opening Test in Edgbaston. However, he has slid off since then, scoring only 68 runs across the next two Tests. He has been dismissed by Cummins thrice in a row, increasing his number of dismissals to the Australian captain to 11 times.
The 32-year-old did score 84 runs off 95 deliveries in the fourth Test, but is striving for consistency at the moment.
At the time of writing, England are placed at 83-3 after 19 overs. They were put into bat by Australia, in what was the first coin toss win for Pat Cummins in Ashes 2023.
The hosts named an unchanged playing XI for the contest while Australia brought back Todd Murphy into the playing XI at the expense of Cameron Green.
Will Joe Root be among the runs in the second innings of the final Ashes Test? Let us know what you think.