Australia opener David Warner found some of his batting mojo back during the first day of the third Ashes Test against England at Headingley on Thursday (August 22).

Warner, who registered the scores of 2, 8, 3 and 5 across the first two Tests, played a fine knock of 61 in Leeds. And former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes the added responsibility of being the senior-most batsman in the side motivated the southpaw to fight it out in the middle.

"It was more important this game for Davey to do it with Steve Smith not being there," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"You then have got to turn to your more senior players and hope that they get the job done for you.

"Knowing what Davey is like he would've liked the opportunity to be the most senior player in the side and so far he's stood up really well."

England’s veteran paceman Stuart Broad was the nemesis of Warner at Edgbaston and Lord’s, dismissing him in three out of the four innings. However, the left-hander enjoyed a bit of luck on Day 1 at Headingley as he played and missed 13 of his first 25 deliveries against Stuart Broad and survived.

Having survived Broad's first spell, Warner gained some confidence and went on to notch up his fifty off 79 deliveries with six boundaries. He finally ran out of luck on 61 as Archer got rid of him with a brute of a ball that nipped away at the last moment and took the outside edge.

"He had a little bit of luck, he played and missed a lot of balls but his mental application today has been the difference. He missed a lot but he was holding his line, he didn't follow the ball, he was trusting his technique and if anything the balls were just too good – they did too much,” Ponting pointed out.

"All Davey had to do was wait until Broad got a little bit straighter, try and work him through the leg-side and when he got something he could play off the back foot try and hurt him. It was always going to be difficult for him to try and score off the front foot because the ball was swinging so much," he elaborated.