England out to upset the odds

England will be hoping for a fast start in the one-day series against India and where better to start than at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire when the two sides meet in the first of seven games later today. India are 4/5 favourites but England, who are evens, are wounded and will be looking to bounce back from the loss of the Test series.

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England's sorry recent one-day record is well documented - they have only won 14 matches of their 35 since last June and 16 of their past 50 - but they should not be completely discounted for the series or the first match.

The first match could obviously have an important effect on the rest of the series so England will be looking to start strong by winning what is a day-night match.

The general rule of thumb is that the side that wins the toss should bat first in these day-nighters and while it is not always backed up by statistics, England are a much better side defending a total than they are chasing it, when their weakness at the top of the order is that much more exposed with the pressure on them.

The return of Andrew Flintoff will be a major boost to England and their skipper Paul Collingwood but only if he is 100 percent fit. Why he doesn't open the batting, though, to at least give him more time in the middle and boost the run-rate, is beyond me. Instead, Matt Prior will open and so the emphasis will be on him to score quickly.

The last time India and England met in one-dayers, in 2005-06, India won 6-1 but it should not be forgotten that they too, like England, had an awful World Cup and do have quite a lot to prove.

The presence of Yuvraj Singh should add to their batting firepower while he has also taken plenty of wickets in one-dayers.

No surprises
Kevin Pietersen would have been favourite anyway but he is even more the front-runner on home turf, with bet365 making him just 11/4 to top-score for the hosts. Alastair Cook is next at 4/1, with Collingwood and Ian Bell both 5/1.

Ravi Bopara is a 6/1 chance, the same price as Owais Shah, while Prior is 8/1 and Flintoff is 9/1, though remember he will bat at No 6.

For India, Sachim Tendulkar, who has a ridiculous 41 one-day hundreds to his name, is an equally strong favourite, at 11/4, with Sourav Ganguly 4/1 and captain Rahul Dravid and Robin Uthappa both 9/2.

Yuivraj is 5/1, Gautam Gambhir is 11/2 and the dashing Mahendra Dhoni is available at 15/2.

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.