KEVIN Pietersen upstaged even Michael Vaughan at Headingley today.

The Hampshire batsman was 130 not out at stumps on the first day of the second Test match against West Indies as England reached 366-5.

Michael Vaughan believed his fairytale hundred on his Test comeback at his home ground was ''almost destiny''.

His bear-hug celebration with Pietersen, with whom he put on 163 for the third wicket, showed how much it meant to both men.

The England captain made 103 out of an England total of 366 for five, augmented by a second successive hundred from Kevin Pietersen (130no) by stumps on day one of the second Test against West Indies.

It was a dream return for the Yorkshire batsman, back for his first Test in 18 months after a miserable run of injuries - the most worrying and longest term to his right knee, which has been operated on four times.

"That's as fine a feeling as I've ever felt in the game, going out there and producing it when it seems the whole of the country was looking to see how Michael Vaughan was going to react," he said.

Vaughan knew he needed to make a significant score soon, with many querying whether he might not have been better off delaying his return in search of form in county colours - having broken his finger at the start of this season.

He admitted to nerves at the start of his 173-ball innings, even though he was convinced in the days leading up to this match that his 16th Test century may just be in the offing.

"It was almost destiny for me to get a hundred on comeback on my home ground," he suggested.

Despite his optimism, the 32-year-old knew he was facing a tough challenge to rehabilitate himself in one of sport's toughest jobs - but that is the way he likes it.

"You have to prove to yourself that you can play at this level," he said.

"I had 18 months out of Test match cricket. I know I'm a good player, but you still have to go out there and do it.When you've had such a long lay-off, of course there are doubts in the back of your mind - whether you're going to see the ball, whether you'll react, whether the feet are going to move under pressure."

The fact that he was able to produce something near his best in those circumstances was particularly pleasing for him.

"My celebration was a mixture of lots of emotions, but it was just a feeling I haven't had for a long time," he said.

"That's what you play the game for, to get into that kind of position.

"In terms of innings I've played, I'd put that right up there, just for the pressure.

"To produce it under that pressure is why it stands with the innings I played at Old Trafford against Australia in 2005. Both are very special."

Well before he arrived in Leeds this morning, Vaughan had more than an inkling that he could be in the runs.

"I've felt a hundred in me all week. I've been driving the car and visualising I felt I had a hundred in me,'' he said.

"You just sometimes sense you are going to get one. But when I got towards 20 I really thought 'there's a chance here'."

It was far from easy, however, and Vaughan spent 27 balls with just three to his name at one point.

"A hundred on my comeback - I had to work very hard to get in on that wicket," he recalled.

"But once I did, I felt I was in pretty good touch.

"It's been a long, hard road - but I'm delighted to be back."

Vaughan has the added satisfaction of knowing England are in a very strong position after the first day.

The Windies, meanwhile, have problems - not least a shoulder injury for their captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who went off to hospital for a scan on the joint after colliding with a boundary hoarding.

Vice-captain Daren Ganga, who took over during the final session, was hugely impressed with Vaughan's hundred.

"It was a very fluent innings," he said.

"He showed he's tough mentally. To come into a situation where he's been criticised a lot and do well for England, we can all learn from that."