South Africa took a vice-like grip on the second Test at Lord's as England were routed for 173 after being put into bat by South African skipper Graeme Smith, who then hit an unbeaten 80 out of his side's 151 for one.

Vaughan scored a solid 33 but a mixture of disciplined bowling and rash strokeplay led to England's downfall with Makhaya Ntini claiming five for 75.

It was a different scenario to the success Vaughan had enjoyed in leading England to their NatWest Series triumph.

Vaughan said: "Obviously it didn't go quite to plan. They won the toss and stuck us in but we were going to bat anyway so there are no excuses there.

"The cloud came over, they put the ball in the right areas and the wicket just did enough but we are pretty honest in our dressing room.

"As a batting unit to score around 170 on that wicket just wasn't a good enough effort. The fact Darren Gough and James Anderson put on 50 at the end showed that it was a good wicket.

"When we went out to bowl the sun was still shining and for the first part of their innings the wicket was very flat.

"Towards the end the cloud came over and Steve Harmison started to zip the ball about a little bit. But there are no excuses.

"We just weren't good enough today. We are up against it and chasing the game now and that is probably an understatement.

"Things just didn't go to plan at all. Every time we snicked the ball it went to hand. Every shot we played went down a fielder's throat. I guess you would say it was not a first day to remember."

It was an unusual occurrence for an England captain to front up to the media after the first day of a Test but Vaughan said: "I am pretty honest and open about the game and there's no point in me saying that conditions didn't suit and we were unlucky.

"We just weren't good enough and I think sometimes you are best to front up and say my first day as captain didn't quite go to plan."

Smith has now scored 442 runs in the series in just three innings after his knocks of 277 and 85 at Edgbaston in the drawn first Test although he had a life when on eight in his latest knock.

Vaughan said: "Smith is playing very well. There are obviously plans there but he is just combating them at the moment. He is having a bit of luck and we missed an opportunity early in the innings to get him out.

"It was just a day you have to put to one side and forget. Nothing went to plan. We hold our hands up and say we didn't have a good enough day as a team."

Vaughan spelt out his determination to remain calm and rational in adversity despite his disappointment at the day's events.

He said: "I don't think shouting and screaming in the dressing room is going to change the fact we only got 170 and the fact they are near to our total for one wicket down."

The day was special for former herd boy Ntini who hails from Mdingi in South Africa's rural Eastern Cape.

He said: "I had never played a Test match at Lord's and my wish was to make sure I leave with my name on one of the honours boards in the pavilion - for taking five for something - and I have achieved that.

"I know Jonty Rhodes' name is up there and I wanted to see another South African on those boards. I wanted to leave a mark so that when the next generation come to play England they can look at those boards and see my name up there."

Ntini admitted: "I never dreamed of being a cricketer because we never had the right kind of facilities in the rural areas. The only sports we had were rugby and athletics.

"While I was growing up, my thought was that to have a good life I had to be a policeman or a soldier. In those days those were the best jobs we could aspire to after passing out at school.

"If I was not a cricketer, maybe I could have been Sergeant Ntini - but cricket changed my life for me."

Discuss it on the message board!