Man-of-the-match Paul Collingwood hit an unbeaten century as England chased down the target of 253 with just three balls to spare to go 1-0 up in the best-of-three tri-series final.

England, ravaged by injury, without regular skipper Michael Vaughan and barely competitive less than two weeks ago, overcame disastrous starts with both bat and ball.

Collingwood, who starred in the field as Australia let slip a rampant start to fall for 252 all out, then hit 120 to take England to 253 for six in reply.

Victory in Sydney on Sunday would cap a remarkable turnaround for the tourists who were thrashed 5-0 in the Ashes Tests and took more than two months to win a match on tour.

Stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff had high praise for Collingwood, whose two centuries in two matches have epitomised England's resurgence.

"It is one of the best knocks I have seen by an Englishman in a one-day game," Flintoff said.

"The way he timed his innings and the way he knocked up the runs was something to behold. The plaudits should go to Paul."

Collingwood said he was reaping the rewards of adopting a more relaxed approach to his batting.

"I went out there to be positive and thankfully it came off again," he said.

"I had some great help with partnerships with Belly (Ian Bell), and Freddie (Andrew Flintoff), and Niko (Paul Nixon) at the end.

"I went through a bit of a bad patch, but hopefully I can keep this run going."

Collingwood, also man-of-the-match in England's previous game, batted superbly under pressure after his brilliant fielding enabled the visitors to rein in Australia's flying start.

He took a superb catch to dismiss dangerman Ricky Ponting, ending the captain's 138-run stand with Matthew Hayden, and claimed two run-outs with direct hits.

The 30-year-old then rescued England's innings, in deep trouble at 15 for three, and set them on the path to victory with a 133-run partnership with Bell (65).

Collingwood worked the ball into the gaps perfectly as he teamed with Flintoff (35) for a crucial 74-run stand.

With tension rising in the dying overs, he showed he was capable of the big shots with several boundaries to ease the pressure, fittingly hitting the winning run.

While England celebrated a third successive win, Australian veteran Glenn McGrath had a 37th birthday to forget.

Had he held on to a sitter off Nathan Bracken when Bell was 18 England would have been 33 for four.

McGrath finished wicketless, was hit in the head by a ball thrown from the outfield, was smashed back over his head by Collingwood for six, and was also involved in a botched run-out attempt when Flintoff had just come to the crease.

His woes summed up Australia's night, with some crucial chances going down and the English batsmen benefiting from several near-misses.

Lee was the only Australian bowler to impress, with 3-41 from his 10 overs.

Collingwood's fielding, combined with some fine bowling from Flintoff and spinner Monty Panesar, turned the Australian innings on its head.

At 170-1 in the 31st over on a perfect batting wicket, with Ponting and Hayden both in top form and having added 138, Australia looked to have set the perfect foundation for a late onslaught.

However, Collingwood's superb diving one-handed catch to remove Ponting for 75 was the catalyst for an unexpected collapse.

Hayden (82) fell soon after to spinner James Dalrymple. Australia were 180 for three and the innings subsequently unravelled spectacularly, the home side losing their last six wickets for 23 runs in just 37 balls.

Collingwood ran out Michael Clarke (33) by centimetres with a direct hit from mid-off and gave the same treatment to Brett Lee from gully.

The lion-hearted Flintoff bowled impressively to claim the wickets of Mike Hussey, Brad Hogg and McGrath in finishing with 3-41 from 9.3 overs.