Ashes 3rd Test: Joe Root punches his bat in frustration after Mitchell Starc 'gets the big one' - VIDEO

A visibly irked Root punched the bat in frustration as he departed after scoring his ninth fifty in Australia.

England's mediocre run in the ongoing Ashes series encapsulated in Joe Root's reaction after being dismissed by Mitchell Starc on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The English skipper was again trying to rescue his side from a fragile situation when Starc's delivery found the edge of his bat and Alex Carey made no mistake behind the stumps.

England skipper Joe Root (Twitter/Cricket Australia)

A visibly irked Root punched the bat in frustration as he departed after scoring his ninth fifty in Australia -- the most by any visiting batter without making a Test century. "Starc gets the big one - England's captain is gone! Root out for exactly 50 #Ashes," tweeted Cricket Australia.

Before Root led England's fightback, the tourists endured yet another poor session, losing opener Haseeb Hameed (0) early. Returning skipper Pat Cummins drew first blood in his opening over by removing Hameed for a 10-ball duck. Cummins struck again in his fourth over, dismissing Zak Crawley for 12 and leaving England reeling at 13/2 in the first session.

Root offered resistance and added 48 runs for the third wicket with Dawid Malan in the final minutes of the first session. Malan, however, nicked it in the last over to hand Cummins his third wicket of the day. Root notched up a half-century in the second session before falling prey to Mitchell Starc. Ben Stokes (25) and Jonny Bairstow kept the scoreboard ticking before Cameron Green entered the wickets column. He removed Stokes, who tried to play the cut shot against a short delivery to get out. Jos Buttler (3) also failed to leave his mark with the bat.

England's slump continued in the final session, with Mark Wood (6) and Bairstow (35) making their way back to the dugout. Nathan Lyon then wrapped up the English innings, dismissing Jack Leach (13) and Ollie Robinson (22) in consecutive overs as England were bowled out for a meager 185.

Earlier, Root had admitted that "basic mistakes" from his team had left him feeling angry and frustrated, adding that he would "expect a response from everyone" in Melbourne. England are struggling to stay alive in the series, having suffered defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide.

"It did come easy to be angry at the end of the last game because of the situation we're in and the manner in which we lost," Root had told reporters. "I'll always try to look at things with a level, pragmatic approach but I don't think you could after the way we've played those last two games. I expect a response from everyone this week.

"There was a lot of frustration. Purely because of the basic mistakes that we've been making. And we've done it twice in a row. We can't afford to be losing eight wickets for 70 or 80 runs. It is not good enough. It is not the level that an England Test team should be playing at. The guys know that and they're very aware of that."