Can England stop the rot?

The way England batted in the first match of the five-game one-day series against Sri Lanka on Monday, you can only hope that they have been given an enormous kick up the backside by the team management, because if they don't improve, then Thursday's second match will go the same way as the first.

Sri Lanka are massive odds-on, at just 2/5 (1.40) to win the second match, again at Dambulla, while England are 7/4 (2.75) to get back on level terms.

That, though, would be a massive upset given the relative strength of the two sides. England may possess Kevin Pietersen, who will almost certainly score a century in one of the five matches, but that's about it as far as world class one-day players go.

They seem incapable of chasing a decent total at the moment - they are far better when batting first - and they don't look anywhere near closer to realising that the best batting sides attack from the first ball.

Sri Lanka, by contrast, have a pretty settled side and even without Muttiah Muralitharan, for this match and the next, at least, they just seem too confident and too well-equipped for England.

Sri Lanka also look nailed-on to have the better opening partnership again, at 4/6.

Time for Pietersen to shine?
As mentioned, sooner or later, Pietersen will hit top form and if he does, he'll almost certainly top-score, so that explains bet365 making him favourite to be England's top runscorer, at 11/4 (3.75).

Ian Bell, who hit a century in the warm-up game, is next at 10/3, with Alastair Cook 9/2 and opener Phil Mustard on offer at 6/1. Captain Paul Collingwood is also 6/1, with Luke Wright is 7/1 and Owais Shah 17/2.

Sanath Jayasuriya is favourite for Sri Lanka at 3/1, with captain Mahela Jayawardene 7/2 and both Kumar Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga 4/1. Chamara Silva is 7/1 and Tillekeratne Dilshan is on offer at 9/1.