Sri Lanka looking to hammer Bangladesh

When you have won only six of your past 20 one-day internationals and are looking for a rare series victory, there is only one side you'd want to face and Sri Lanka have that privilege when they meet Bangladesh in the first of three one-day matches on Monday.

Bangladesh have had some minor success in one-day cricket but they have never beaten Sri Lanka in 14 one-day international matches, but they have lost 103 of their 115 games in all and have to consider themselves lucky to be playing at the top level at all.

Naturally, you are going to have to stake a lot of money if you're going to win money on Sri Lanka winning the opening match in Bogra, as bet365 make them 1/20 (1.05) for the visitors to win. Bangladesh may have home advantage but they are still 15/2 (8.50) to produce what would be a big upset.

Sri Lanka's recent record is poor - as I said, six wins in their past 20 - but they improved considerably in the VB Series, when they upset South Africa to reach the final and only went down 2-1 to the hosts, Australia, in the three-game final.

Jayasuriya favourite
That improvement in form has coincided with the return to the side of former captain Sanath Jayasuriya and the left-hander is 5/2 (3.50) favourite to be his side's topscorer. As opener, he naturally has the best chance, in terms of maximum time available, but he has been in good form and has a habit of butchering weak attacks. The former skipper averages a massive 66.85 in 10 one-dayers against Bangladesh and has hit two centuries and two fifties in the process.

It's a shame that captain Marvan Atapattu misses the match because he averages a whopping 103 against them, but Kumar Sangakkara averages just 24 against them. However, Sangakkara, the 3/1 (4.00) second favourite, has been in good form for a long time now and will relish the prospect of the Bangladesh attack. Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga are both 4/1 (5.00).

Bangladesh's strength definitely lies with their batting and Mohammad Ashraful, a talented player, is the 4/1 (5.00) favourite, even though he averages just 19 in one-dayers. Habibul Bashar, their most experienced player, is 9/2 (5.50).

Shariar Nafees, who has his side's best average at 36, and Javed Omar are both 5/1 (6.00), Rajiin Saleh and Aftab Ahmed are both 6/1 (7.00) and Alok Kapali is 7/1 (8.00) but none of those players have excelled yet.