At stumps, on the first day of the second Test, South Africa were 151 for one in reply to England's first innings 173 -- a deficit of just 22.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who hammered England for 362 runs in the drawn first Test at Edgbaston, was 80 not out.

"There are no excuses -- we just weren't good enough," said Vaughan, thrust into the Test captaincy after Nasser Hussain's shock resignation at Edgbaston.

Vaughan, 28, must have known it was not going to be his day when he lost the toss.

"But we were going to bat anyway," said Vaughan who became England's one-day skipper after Hussain retired from the shorter international game following the World Cup.

"There was some cloud cover and the ball did a bit," added Vaughan, England's second top scorer with 33 behind number nine Darren Gough's 34.

Gough and last man James Anderson put the pitch into perspective with a tenth wicket stand of 55.

"For Gough and Jimmy to put on fifty showed it was a good wicket," Vaughan said.

"Things didn't go to plan, every time we snicked it the ball went to hand and every shot we played went straight down their throats. It was not a first day to remember."

Vaughan, much praised for his relaxed approach while leading England to one-day victories over Pakistan and in the triangular series final over South Africa at Lord's earlier this month, insisted he had kept his cool.

"Shouting and screaming won't change the fact that we got only 173 and they are pretty close to our total for one down.

"We are up against it. To say we're chasing the game is an understatement."