Ashes 2013 - latest report: Ponderous afternoon sees England with fight on their hands against Australia - Cricket - Sport - The Independent England still have a fight on their hands against Australia after a fairly ponderous afternoon session at The Oval. Alastair Cook and Joe Root batted well, seeing off Australia's opening pair of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle to record their first half-century partnership of the series. It was a statistic that showed how poorly England have started in this summer's Tests and while both men looked well set throughout the first hour, Australia soon had a breakthrough. Three balls after the drinks break, Harris drew Cook into playing at one outside his off stump and he edged it through to Brad Haddin who took a good low catch. It was a disappointing end for England's skipper who will perhaps feel he should have made more of a fairly flat Oval wicket. The next man in, Jonathan Trott, has also looked short of form in this series and his arrival at the crease marked a notable slowing down in the pace of England's run-scoring with the Warwickshire right-hander looking a little scratchy at the crease. Root, although looking a bit bogged down at points, was slowly playing himself in at the other end and he brought up his half-century just before lunch as England went into the break at 97/1. If the morning session felt a little slow-paced, then the afternoon one was positively sedentary as England crawled along. Australia did not look overly threatening with the ball after lunch, but the introduction of Nathan Lyon did the trick, the spinner claiming the wicket of Root who top edged a sweep to Shane Watson at short fine leg. It was for a long time the only event of note in a fairly turgid session as Kevin Pietersen and Trott - who took 78 balls to record his first boundary - moved England's scoring rate along exceptionally slowly, much to the vocal displeasure of sections of the crowd. Both men did eventually manage to find the boundary but it wasn't until the second new ball was taken that the match sprung back into life. Mitchell Starc struck with his first delivery, trapping Trott LBW and suddenly Australia came alive, ensuring a lively few overs until England went into Tea at 181/3.