Joe Root hits fifty for England after being dropped three times on day one at The Oval

Joe Root went through to a 45th Test fifty, having earlier been dropped three times by Australia, as England reached tea on day one of the fifth Ashes Test on 169-3.

SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED

Root (57no) was put down twice in consecutive Pat Cummins overs before lunch, and then again - this time off Peter Siddle - in the first over back after the interval. Shortly after, he became the 12th English batsman - and the fastest in history, in terms of time - to reach 7,000 Test runs.

Siddle first put down Root when on 24, a simple chance at fine leg, before captain Tim Paine then failed to hold on to a routine outside edge, with Root on 25. Steve Smith shelled the third chance - a trickier one, diving to his right at second slip - with the England captain on 30.

Having won the toss and inserted their hosts, Australia have struggled to find a great deal of assistance from The Oval surface, so England will be frustrated at having somewhat gifted the visitors three wickets through the opening two sessions.

Joe Denly (14) was the first to go, driving the pick of the Australian bowlers, Cummins (1-46) to Smith, who clung on to this one at the third attempt after a juggled effort.

Rory Burns (47) produced another battling knock in the series but both he and Ben Stokes (20) top-edged attempted pull shots off Josh Hazlewood (1-29) and Mitchell Marsh (1-17) - neither effort making it off the square, as they were snapped up at mid-on and point, respectively.

Hazlewood consistently nagged away on a good line and length, as he has throughout the series, while Marsh found some decent swing into the left-handed Stokes, in particular, during his seven-over spell. Siddle, however, has struggled in his return to the side, conceding 57 from his 15 wicketless overs.

Australia have already retained the Ashes, leading 2-1 heading into this fifth and final Test, but are looking for their first outright series win in England in 18 years.

Watch continued live coverage of the fifth Test between England and Australia on Sky Sports The Ashes.