Handed a comprehensive 104-run defeat in the limited-overs' series opener against England [Images], India captain Rahul Dravid [Images] conceded that his team was thoroughly outplayed in all departments of the game.

"No excuses. We were outplayed today," Dravid said after the match.

• Scorecard | Images

"We didn't come to the party at all; we were out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded, and we've got to play a lot better if we want to stay in the series," he said.

It was clearly not the best way to kick-off the seven-match ODI series and while shoddy batting, flat bowling and sloppy fielding did hurt, three reckless run-outs were the last straw for the side.

• Can't bat, can't bowl, can't field

"We need to go on improving. Fielding isn't our strong area and we're not going to develop strong arms and athletic legs overnight. But we need to constantly work on it and make small improvements.

"What we must do is not make stupid mistakes while running between the wickets. That's something we can definitely avoid," said an upset Dravid.

He also defended his decision to bowl first, only to see England's batsmen rack up 288 for 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.

"They played a perfect one-day game. You want someone in your top 2-3 to get a hundred and they had two of them doing that. I thought there would be a bit more in the pitch. There was something for the bowlers but it was a bit slow. They rotated the strike well," Dravid said.

His English counterpart Paul Collingwood [Images] called it a "near perfect performance" by his side but refused to be complacent with six games left in the series.

"It was one of our best performances for some time," said Collingwood.

"The way the batters went about it, positive right through. I think we've had such phases in the past but we're looking for consistency. It was a kind of a perfect game.

"It's a great start for us but we need to continue with that rhythm and momentum.

"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."

He was also delighted with the display of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff [Images], 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.

Bell, who finally notched up a one-day hundred in his 48th match, was happy to cross the three-figure mark and attributed it to his shot selection.

"It was a good pitch; we weren't too sure what a good score was. I was just trying to score as many. The key for me was my shot selection, the areas I was trying to hit the ball."