ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, 15 April 2004 — Captain Michael Vaughan hit his first century of the series as England moved ever closer to saving the fourth and final Test against West Indies yesterday.

Resuming on 145 for no wicket, England lost Marcus Trescothick for 88 but Vaughan hit 119 as the touring side reached tea on 345 for two, with Mark Butcher (53) and Nasser Hussain (42) at the crease. England still trail by 121 but have just one session to bat out on a placid pitch to win the series 3-0.

Vaughan’s 11th test century was the highlight of a tense morning session as West Indies looked to make inroads in the hope of claiming a consolation win. West Indies captain Brian Lara, whose record-breaking 400 not out was the inspiration behind his team’s mammoth first innings total of 751 for five, employed a surprisingly defensive field, however, and England took advantage.

Trescothick, who began the day on 74, hit two lovely cover drives but when he had reached 88 he jabbed a mis-timed drive straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at wide mid-off to give Fidel Edwards the one wicket of the session. He and Vaughan put on 182 for the opening wicket.

Vaughan progressed from 61 overnight, surviving a big appeal for lbw from Pedro Collins, who troubled him all morning, and a couple of streaky shots through the gully area.

With his century in sight, though, the England captain visibly tightened up and a risky single to Sarwan could have cost him dear had the West Indian not misfielded.

But Vaughan then smashed a superb drive through the covers to reach three figures, greeting it with a punch of the air before the ball had reached the boundary.

With Lara off the field for almost an hour between lunch and tea, Sarwan took over and chose to bowl his occasional leg spin in tandem with part-time slow bowler Chris Gayle even though the new ball was due.

The move paid off partially when Vaughan was surprised by some extra bounce from Sarwan and Ridley Jacobs took a neat catch behind to make it 274 for two. Hussain joined Butcher and the pair played sensibly to take England through to tea without further loss.