Collingwood delighted by England's 'fearless' victory

Paul Collingwood hailed England's "exceptional" effort after India were beaten by 42 runs in the one-day international at Edgbaston yesterday. Batting first, the hosts scored 281 for 8 and then fielded superbly to go 2-1 up in the series with four matches to play.

"We are getting scores of around 300 all the time and that shows we are improving," said the England one-day captain. "We have always said the best way to play one-day cricket is with a fearless attitude – it is getting filtered into our bloodstream – but it is still early doors, there are only three games gone so we won't get too carried away.

"Today the effort was exceptional. We probably saved 20 to 30 runs with our fielding alone and that's crucial in one-day cricket."

Andrew Flintoff missed the game due to his injured right knee but hopes to play in the fourth match at Old Trafford on Thursday. Collingwood said: "It was the decision made by the medical staff, they erred on the side of caution. He's desperate to play on Thursday but we have got two months of cricket coming up and we have to be careful with him."

In contrast to England, India were poor in the field. Their captain, Rahul Dravid, said: "We didn't field as well as we can – it was a disappointing part of our game and they fielded beautifully and that makes a big difference in the game. Our fielding does need to improve."