Captain Paul Collingwood toasted England's new-found fearless attitude as India were downed by 42 runs at Edgbaston yesterday.

Despite heading into the match without injured all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and losing Hampshire's Dimitri Mascarenhas to a jarred thumb in the warm-up, England piled up 281 for eight and then fielded superbly to go 2-1 up in the NatWest Series.

Collingwood, 31, has now won half of his six one-day internationals in charge and there is an air of confidence about the team which was so lacking during the World Cup.

Asked to bat first on a cloudy morning against a full-strength Indian side buoyed by the day-night victory in Bristol on Friday, England produced another display on a par with the Southampton opener.

"We are getting scores of around 300 all the time and that shows we are improving," said Collingwood.

"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.

"But in many ways I was as satisfied with today's performance as I was at the Rose Bowl.

"I know that was what I called near-perfect but today the efforts from all the lads were exceptional."

India were arguably favourites when Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly passed 50 in the space of a couple of minutes but the return of Hampshire's Chris Tremlett from the city end for the 30th over, with the score 134 for two, proved crucial.

Having been smacked for 20 in his initial two-over spell, Tremlett's double strike improved his figures drastically.

"What you have seen today is that he's got the character to bounce back," said Collingwood.

"We had a lot of faith in him, he didn't start off too well but came back and got those really important wickets at an important time.

"Things like that, and bowlers like that, can change a game.

"I think we saw in the Test series he has moved on leaps and bounds; he's improving all the time; he's a huge guy and he just needs to get that aggression going sometimes. He showed signs of that today".

Flintoff sat out due to his injured right knee but hopes to return for the fourth match at Old Trafford later this week.

With the World Twenty20 and a one-day series in Sri Lanka immediately following this one-day extravaganza, Collingwood said: "Obviously 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.

"You always miss Freddie but the way the guys played was fantastic.

"We probably saved 20-30 runs with our fielding alone and that's crucial in one-day cricket."

Ian Bell was top scorer for the third match running, this time 79 on his home ground, was also crucial in restructuring the innings after England slipped to 118 for three.

Before Dravid chopped into his stumps, however, it appeared this one might be in vain.

"We knew that one of us would have to go on and make a big score, make it count," Dravid said.

"The critical part of the game was losing those two wickets in quick succession and when you only go in with six batsmen we couldn't afford for that to happen.

"We also 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.

"When you're losing by 40 runs and they save 20 and you give away 20 then it's a closer game. Our fielding does need to improve".