Paul Collingwood hit a quickfire fifty to guide England to a rousing six-wicket victory over New Zealand and keep the outcome of the five-match series alive.

Humiliated in the opening two matches in the series, Collingwood typified England's determination not to lose the series in successive matches and delivered a defiant performance at Eden Gardens.

Chasing a revised target of 228 in 47 overs after New Zealand posted a competitive 234 for nine, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen helped the tourists recover from losing both openers with a 120-run stand. But after Bell scored a determined 73 off 89 balls, his first one-day fifty in 12 innings, both he and Pietersen fell to Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, in successive overs to once again put the outcome in doubt.

Collingwood arrived at the crease, however, and raced to an unbeaten 70 off 50 balls, which included six fours and three sixes, to help England claim their first win of the series with three overs remaining.

Phil Mustard had run himself out in the third over of England's reply, the seventh run out of the series for the tourists, and Alastair Cook pulled Jacob Oram straight to mid-on shortly after the restart after the rain. England could have suffered a further run out with Bell twice being given reprieves after throws missed the stumps with him well short of his ground. He weathered those nervous moments, however, and looked set for his first one-day international century in 15 matches, only to be adjudged lbw to left-arm spinner Vettori despite television replays suggesting he got an inside edge onto his pad.

Pietersen followed in Vettori's next over, but this time there was no cause for complaint over the decision, leaving England once again jittery until Collingwood settled their nerves during an unbroken partnership with Owais Shah.

Collingwood, the England captain, was delighted with way his team bounced back.

"It was a fantastic win," he said. "People might say we should have bowled them out for less but we were happy with that kind of total on that type of wicket."

"People have been very critical of the bowlers in the last two performances. Today, there was control, they were aggressive and got the ball in good areas. The Kevin Pietersen - Ian Bell partnership in the middle order there was fantastic. A 100-partnership at that stage was crucial for us."

Bell, England's top scorer, admitted it had been "about time" the team delivered.

"It's about time really," Bell said. "It was like a final for us and I guess the next few games are as well. We've let ourselves down a little bit how we've started (the series).

"It was important we got things back on track and I think the guys did a pretty good job today. The next game is another final and hopefully we can put a performance together again."