Vaughan wheels England toward safety in first Test

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.

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.
(Reuters)