England captain Colly escapes with fine

Paul Collingwood has been fined for England's slow over rate in their nine-run defeat at the hands of India in their second one-day international.

The England one-day skipper could have been hit with a possible two-match ban after his side were found to be three overs short of the required rate in Bristol.

But it has been decided that Collingwood will be docked 50 per cent of his match fee of around £1,250 after being charged with a level two offence of the Code of Conduct.

The rest of the England team have been fined 15 per cent, five per cent for each over they failed to bowl in the time allowed.

Collingwood and his men were almost 40 minutes late in completing their overs but had mitigating circumstances, including problems with the sightscreen and Sachin Tendulkar needing treatment for cramp.

The Durham all-rounder said: "The nature of the innings, with so many boundaries being scored and with various stoppages for one thing or another, was always going to mean that it was going to be longer than usual - ultimately, however, it didn't seem to detract from what was a fantastic game of cricket."

Tendulkar's 99-run innings helped India to a score of 329-7 in their allotted 50 overs despite Andrew Flintoff claiming 5-56 with the ball.

In reply England came up nine runs short even though Ian Bell (64) and Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas (52) defied the likes of Piyush Chawla and Munaf Patel, who both claimed three wickets.

The seven-match series is now level at 1-1 ahead of England and India's third one-day international at Edgbaston on Monday.

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