Close England 336 for 2 (Vaughan 182*, Trescothick 57, Butcher 54)
Scorecard

Was Headingley an aberration after all? England's build-up to this make-or-break fourth Test had been dominated by Ronnie Irani's chicken-giblet injections, and undermined by the sheer enormity of India's victory in the third Test – after 16 years of overseas woe, and with Sachin Tendulkar taking the field for his 100th cap, India were surely primed to complete an astonishing comeback and steal the series at the last gasp. But, by the end of a day of glorious stroke-making and floundering fielding, there was only one side with any poultry flowing through their veins.

And once again, with a display of classical clean-hitting and an insatiable hunger for runs, it was Michael Vaughan who led the way for England. Vaughan, who had fallen for 197 in the second Test at Trent Bridge, flailed all before him to reach the close on a remarkable 182 not out, his progression from milestone to milestone as inevitable as India's failure to produce back-to-back performances.

Ably supported throughout, first by Marcus Trescothick, who batted as though he had never been away from the team, then by Mark Butcher and John Crawley, Vaughan carried England into a position from which they should not lose, even with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble waiting to exploit a pitch that is already threatening to turn.

At 336 for 2, however, the prospects of England batting again are miniscule, and barring a collapse tomorrow morning, the onus is already on India to survive for three days for a share of the series. After losing the toss and failing to exploit some early moisture in the pitch, India's seamers – Sanjay Bangar's composed awayswingers excepted – were on a hiding to nothing, while Harbhajan and Kumble were neutered by Vaughan's sweet timing. He was especially strong on the sweep, while anything fractionally wide was laced through point or, in the case of Kumble who briefly flirted with leg theory, carved over midwicket or through long-on as Vaughan danced down the track to meet him.

England set the tone of the day by marching to 113 for 1 at lunch, with Trescothick taking the lead with 57 from 76 balls. Unlike Vaughan, however, he gave it away when well set, swatting a tame bouncer from Zaheer Khan to Bangar at backward square leg. Up until this point, Vaughan had been content to play the anchor role, but he now conferred that job on Butcher, as he settled into his more familiar position of frontrunner.

After reaching his fourth Test century of the summer with a single to mid off from Harbhajan, Vaughan shed what few shackles there remained on his innings. Kumble was crashed down the ground for an on-driven four, then pulled to the midwicket fence, Harbhajan was tucked to third man with the deftest of late cuts. And though Butcher soon fell, caught off the back of the bat as he swept at Harbhajan, Crawley - who came in ahead of schedule as Nasser Hussain took a breather after being padded-up for the best part of four hours - provided a solid ally against the spinners, as Sourav Ganguly briefly turned to his own centurion, Tendulkar, in search of inspiration.

Such was Vaughan's confidence, that his only moment of panic derived from over-confidence. With the score on 142 for 1, he set off for a suicidal single to Ganguly at mid-off. Butcher had been quick to send him back, but Ajay Ratra should have done better as the throw came in. The third umpire, Neil Mallender, took several looks at Vaughan's full-length dive before reaching his decision, possibly puzzled as to how on earth he had survived. By the end of the day, however, survival was the only thought on India's minds.

England
1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain (capt), 5 John Crawley, 6 Alec Stewart (wk), 7 Dominic Cork, 8 Alex Tudor, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Andrew Caddick, 11 Matthew Hoggard

India
1 Sanjay Bangar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajit Agarkar, 8 Ajay Ratra (wk), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Zaheer Khan

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