By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent

Agnew's Close of Play - BBC Radio Five Live

Muttiah Muralitharan produced an early contender for the 'ball of the century' but today belonged to England's batsmen who consolidated on the performance of the bowlers on the opening day.

Mark Butcher was playing serenely and seemed guaranteed of reaching his second century in consecutive Tests when, on 94, he received a snorting delivery from Muralitharan that, delivered from over the wicket, exploded from at least 18 inches outside the leg stump to hit the off bail.

Butcher's reaction was simply to smile and shrug his shoulders as he wandered off.

Remarkably, the bowler did not register even a flicker of emotion despite having produced such a devastating ball.

Butcher was beaten all ends up

Suddenly, batting seemed difficult again and, five balls later, Muralitharan bowled Hussain as he tried to pad him away.

Overall, though, it had not been a happy day for Sri Lanka's spinner.

He regularly left the field during the morning, apparently nursing a groin strain although he was seen landing heavily on his injured left shoulder as he dived at mid off.

He took the first wicket - Vaughan being caught at short fine leg as he top edged a sweep for 46 - but with absolutely no support at the other end, Murali's smile soon deserted him as Butcher and Trescothick took control.

Dominant batting

Trescothick was in spanking form.

Zoysa allowed him to get away to the best possible start by deciding to test unchartered areas of the pitch first thing. Sadly, his succession of wide long hops were despatched ruthlessly and it rather set the tone for Sri Lanka's effort in the field.

Trescothick receives a deserved ovation

Even Vaas looked well below par in the morning session and by the time he responded to Muralitharan's magic after tea, it was too late.

Trescothick and Butcher added 202 for the second wicket and, having reached 161, Trescothick clipped Vaas to mid wicket where Tillekeratne dived low to his left to complete the catch.

This was his third Test century; interestingly his previous two have both been made in matches that England have eventually lost.

With unsettled weather forecast for the last two days of the match, England needed to keep an eye on their scoring rate.

Butcher continued to bat fluently, and had no right whatsoever to expect the extraordinary delivery that Muralitharan produced from nowhere.

A batting guru might look at the replay and suggest, in hindsight, that Butcher should have thrust his pad down the pitch and prevented the possibility of the ball hitting the stumps.

However, nothing had behaved like this all day and, knowing Butcher, he will have simply peeled off his pads in the dressing room and accepted that he had been 'done' by an expert.