Cricket: Vaughan again; Batsman continues epic form.

Byline: MYLES HODGSON

MICHAEL Vaughan made further strides towards confirming himself as England's outstanding batsman of the new millennium with another special innings to establish a dominant position in the final Test at The Oval.

Vibrant and confident going in the decider in the four-Test series following their emphatic victory at Headingley, India were transformed into a dispirited line-up desperately grasping for inspiration.

Vaughan's unbeaten 182 not only guided England to a commanding 336-2 on the opening day, but took his tally for the season to 840 and he is also now the leading run scorer in Test cricket for 2002 with 971 runs. His superb innings, which included 27 boundaries during his six-hour stay at the crease, also placed him among the pantheon of England batsmen who have achieved four Test centuries in an English summer, emulating the feats of Denis Compton, Allan Lamb, Graham Gooch and Herbert Sutcliffe.

With Marcus Trescothick, his main rival to succeed Nasser Hussain as captain, Vaughan represents England's bright future.

Before they were parted for three Tests by Trescothick's broken thumb, they had developed into an outstanding opening pair.

They continued their success yesterday, racing to a 98-run partnership off only 139 balls when they were parted in the 23rd over of the day, Trescothick failing to control an attempted hook off Zaheer Khan and picking out Sanjay Bangar in the deep for a flamboyant 57.

His demise seemed to spur Vaughan, punishing the seamers if they dropped short or over-pitched while the dual spin threat posed by Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble was overcome with an expertise developed during recent tours to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.

Possibly the only blight on his nearperfect innings was a sudden rush of blood on 59 when he set off for a quick single after pushing Ajit Agarkar to midoff and was halfway down the pitch when he realised Sourav Ganguly was collecting the ball.

He turned around quickly and dived as Ganguly's wide throw was collected by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra and it was confirmed he had just made his ground before the stumps were broken.

Mark Butcher was less flamboyant than his partner, but just as effective and contributed a useful 54 to a 174-run second-wicket partnership spanning 51 overs.

India's persistence finally paid off, however, with Harbhajan getting his reward by ending Butcher's three hours of defiance, caught at slip off the back of his bat as he attempted to sweep.

Instead of slowing England's momentum, though, it spurred Vaughan and new batsman John Crawley to new heights of aggressive strokeplay.

FIXTURES (1030 unless stated)Fourth npower Test Match (day two of five) The AMP Oval: England v India (1100)Frizzell County Championship - Division One (day two of four) Hove: Sussex v Hampshire; (day three of four) Old Trafford: Lancashire v Warwickshire; Taunton: Somerset v Kent; Scarborough: Yorkshire v Leicestershire. Division Two (day one of four) Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire v Durham; (day two of four) Cardiff: Glamorgan v Worcestershire; (day three of four) Chelmsford: Essex v Middlesex; Bristol: Gloucestershire v Derbyshire

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HOT SHOT: Michael Vaughan sends another delivery to the boundary and (inset) celebrates his century, the fourth of; the summer