Bell's previous highest ODI score was 88

Bell made an unbeaten 126 in his 48th game as England defeated the visitors by 104 runs in Southampton.

Bell said: "It's been a bit frustrating but it was nice for it to come together today with Alastair Cook [who scored 102, also his first ton in ODIs].

"I don't think I've played better, never seen it through to the end."

Interview: England's Ian Bell

Interview: India captain Rahul Dravid

England skipper Paul Collingwood called it a "near perfect performance" from his side but refused to be complacent with six games left in the series.

Collingwood said: "Let's not get too carried away, we've got six games left. It was a fantastic performance, Bell and Cook played fantastically well and the bowlers put the ball in great areas.

We didn't come to the party at all - we were outbatted, outbowled and outfielded India skipper Rahul Dravid

"We got a big score and the bowlers came out and hit India hard and everybody took their catches. It was a near perfect performance."

And Collingwood was delighted with the display of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who took 1-12 in his first game for England since the World Cup.

"He was bowling with good heat, up to 90mph, and he's very hard to get away when he bowls like that," said Collingwood.

India skipper Rahul Dravid defended his decision to bowl first, despite watching England's batsmen rack up 288-2.

"In hindsight, I might do something different, but it was overcast, there had been a lot of rain in the air and the wicket looked a bit tacky," said Dravid.

"But it didn't do as much as we expected, we couldn't get wickets early on and Cook and Bell batted beautifully.

"The way they played the middle overs was really special and took the game away from us. And losing four wickets early always puts you under pressure.

"Our fielding was average, as was the running between the wickets. But we've been working hard on it and hopefully it will get better.

"We didn't come to the party at all - we were outbatted, outbowled and outfielded and we've got to play a lot better if we want to stay in the series."