Vaughan leads England's escape bid

England, inspired by a Michael Vaughan century, fought a marathon rearguard action against all-conquering Sri Lanka on Sunday as they closed the fourth day of the first Test on 321 for two in their second innings.

That left them 41 runs ahead after wiping out the chance of a humiliating innings defeat.

Nasser Hussain's side, who bowled, fielded and batted dismally on the first three days, found some spirit at last as they cancelled out a 280-run first-innings deficit.

Vaughan led the way with 115 and a 168-run partnership with Marcus Trescothick, England best first-wicket stand for four years.

Skipper Nasser Hussain (51 not out) and Mark Butcher (55 not out) then cobbled together a backs-to-the-wall 108-run stand for the third wicket to steer the home side towards safety before bad light stopped play eight overs early

The Sri Lankans, meanwhile, pressing for their 10th Test win in a row and seemingly set to go 1-0 up in the three-match series after scoring a magnificent 555 for eight on the first two days, were left rueing Sanath Jayasuriya's butter-fingers.

The captain missed two simple chances off Vaughan when on 28 and 33 right at the start of the day.

Vaughan, who also top-scored with 64 in England's highly disappointing first innings of 275, unleashed three off-side drives for four in seamer Buddika Fernando's first over of the day but also edged straight to Jayasuriya's hands at first slip, only for the ball to bounce out.

The second chance, almost identical, came off strike bowler Nuwan Zoysa. Jayasuriya stared at the ground in disbelief. England, equally disbelieving, did not offer another clear chance all day.

PUNCHED DRIVES

The touring side's only good fortune came when the left-handed Trescothick, following an innings full of typical punched drives and powerful cuts, was given out lbw to Zoysa for 76 off a big inside-edge into his pads.

But their all-seam attack, so neat in dismissing England in the first innings, were made to look ordinary for the rest of the day.

Injured Muttiah Muralitharan, their match-winning off-spinner hoping to recover from a shoulder injury in time for the final Test, was forced to watch glumly from the stands.

England and their supporters, meanwhile, were all smiles.

The first two sessions had provided both drama and colour on another fine day at Lord's after they had resumed on 53 without loss.

Vaughan continued to play his shots, concentrating on a straight bat throughout after his early scares.

Moving to 99 with two extra-cover boundaries off Aravinda de Silva's occasional off-spin, he had a nervous 10-ball wait before raising his arms in delight after scampering a single for his second Test century.

He was eventually dismissed to make it 213 for two by whippy left-armer Ruchira Perera, caught behind off a ball slanted across him. He hit 18 fours in a 219-ball innings spanning four hours and 37 minutes.

TRENCH WARFAE

In contrast, the final session was all trench warfare to the cavalry charges that had gone before.

Hussain and a painfully out-of-sorts Butcher, however, deserved almost as much praise as the openers as they put up the shutters with 77 runs still needed just to make Sri Lanka bat again.

Butcher took 30 overs to hit a boundary as he scratched around, while his obdurate captain looked almost as ugly at the other end.

Yet the pair dug in, Hussain breaking the spell momentarily with a straight six off Jayasuriya's left-arm spin before the new ball was taken near the end of the day.

He then cut Zoysa square for four to put England ahead at last, the two celebrating with a flurry of boundaries before going back on the defensive.

The left-handed Butcher, meanwhile, finally bullied himself into some form, reaching his half-century in three-and-three-quarter hours and cutting pace bowler Chaminda Vaas square for four to complete his 100 stand with Hussain.

His captain joined him, his 50 spanning almost three hours, moments later with a crashing boundary through extra cover.

Images from the day's play

Scoreboard

Mail Cricket Editor