Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly got them off to a fantastic start and they didn't look back after that Paul Collingwood

The tourists won by 38 runs after England's innings was curtailed to 45 overs and the target revised to 311, after India had made 324-6.

But captain Collingwood said: "It is the fairest system around.

"It can be a body blow when you're chasing such a big target - but it would've taken a huge effort anyway."

Interview: England captain Paul Collingwood

England were on 242-8 after 39 overs of their reply when the rain returned to force an early suspension of play.

And Collingwood conceded the hosts had allowed India to score too many runs, after he had won the toss and put them in.

"The decision to bowl first was made before the game," he said. "The pitch had been under covers and we thought it might swing and seam a bit - it didn't work out that way.

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"Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly got them off to a fantastic start and they didn't look back after that.

"It was always going to take a monumental effort after that."

However, the Durham all-rounder, who was unbeaten on 91 when play was ended, refused to be too downbeat, with his side still 3-2 up in the seven-match series.

He said: "We still did a lot of things right today and, personally, it was nice to get a bit of time in the middle.

"It can be hard batting having captained all day, but I've got a job to do and I relish it. We just need to pick things up again at The Oval on Wednesday."