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ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran29-Apr-2011Match factsSaturday, April 30, Kolkata
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Shaun Marsh has been one of the most consistent batsmen in IPLs•AFPBig pictureKolkata Knight Riders are the only team of the original eight to have not made the IPL semi-finals but seem to have assembled a squad capable of making it this time. The latest evidence of that came on Thursday against Delhi Daredevils. When their formidable batting stuttered, their bowlers stepped up to pull off a victory that brought their campaign back on track after two successive losses had brought back memories of dismal previous seasons. A win over Kings XI Punjab on Saturday could send them to the top of the table.Punjab’s bowlers have had a week’s rest since the pasting they received at Feroz Shah Kotla and now face another tough test as they come up against one of the strongest batting units in the tournament. Adam Gilchrist’s side were widely reckoned to be among the weakest before the start of the tournament but they have done surprisingly well so far, partly due to Paul Valthaty’s heroics.The reason Punjab aren’t in the top half of the table is that they have only played five matches, while everyone else have played at least seven. “We have to deal with what we are presented with in the schedule,” Gilchrist said. “We are very keen to play though it’s a little odd to have a full week break and then have nine games in the next 21 days.”Form guide (most recent first)Kolkata WLLWW (second in points table)
Punjab LWWWL (seventh in points table)Team talkKolkata are still searching for a reliable wicketkeeper-batsman to partner Jacques Kallis at the top of the order. Their pool of candidates was reduced when Brad Haddin was ruled out of the tournament with a broken finger. Shreevats Goswami made some runs against Delhi but is yet to cement his spot. Kolkata also need to decide whether to retain the misfiring Eoin Morgan.Punjab have to sort out their bowling combination. They need to decide which Indian medium-pacer to pick along with Praveen Kumar. Shalabh Srivastava didn’t impress in his previous match, which could open the door for either Love Ablish or Vikramjeet Malik.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.In the spotlightShaun Marsh can make a credible case for being the most consistent batsman in IPLs – he has an astonishing ten 50-plus scores in 19 innings. His 95 was the outstanding innings in the runfest against Delhi, giving them a fright even after they posted the biggest total of the season.Kolkata brought back left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla for the game against Delhi, which proved a canny decision. With eight wickets, Abdulla is their joint top wicket-taker and his three strikes were instrumental in changing the course of the Kotla match on Thursday.Prime numbers Manoj Tiwary is averaging 97 after six innings this season
Paul Valthaty needs one more six to equal Yuvraj Singh for most sixes in the seasonThe chatter”I think a lot of people get caught up in results. I don’t come into this game getting petrified that Kolkata won the last game.”

Ashish Bagai has stepped down as captain of Canada ahead of the Intercontinental Cup which begins in June

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2011Ashish Bagai has stepped down as captain of Canada ahead of the Intercontinental Cup which begins in June. The 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Bagai, who made his debut in 2003 and has had two stints as captain, will still be available for selection as a player. Bagai led Canada in the 2011 World Cup in which they beat higher-ranked Kenya in the group stages. He made two half-centuries during the tournament.”It has been an honour to captain my country in the sport I love and I thank everyone in this organisation who helped and supported me throughout my term including administrators, coaches, managers and most of all, the players,” Bagai said in a letter to Cricket Canada’s board.”I undertook each task over the last two years with the primary objective of moving not just the team but also the entire organisation forward.”Bagai was appointed captain for the 2007 Intercontinental Cup when he was just 25 but chose to take up a job in the banking industry in the UK later the same year, making him unavailable for many of Canada’s matches. In 2009 he quit his job and signed a contract with Cricket Canada to play the sport full-time and has been captain of the national team since.Cricket Canada have accepted Bagai’s decision to step down and indicated they would still select him as a player.”Cricket Canada thanks Ashish for his outstanding contribution to Canadian cricket at a time when circumstances were difficult and challenging,” Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said in a statement. “I wish him well and look forward to his continued contribution as a player and strong supporter of Canadian cricket.”Canada will have to name a new captain for the Intercontinental Cup in which they will play four-day matches over a 28-month time frame against Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Netherlands, Namibia and UAE.

Michael Yardy, the Sussex captain and England limited-overs allrounder, has been given another rest period by the county to aid his treatment for depression

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011Michael Yardy, the Sussex captain and England limited-overs allrounder, has been given another rest period by the county to aid his treatment for depression.Yardy was forced to return home early from England’s World Cup campaign in March and he missed the first month of the county season with the illness. He then returned to action in the CB40 match against Netherlands, at Hove, on May 2 and played his first Championship game against Nottinghamshire the following week.Though Yardy played in last Friday’s Friends Life t20 match against Middlesex at Hove he left the field after he had bowled his four overs. His absence was explained as a groin niggle at the time.He will now miss Sussex’s t20 match against Somerset at Hove on as he has been given a further period of time out of cricket. A statement issued by the club said that Yardy expects to return to action soon: “Michael has played a lot of cricket over the last six weeks and feels that a short break now will assist his continued recovery, and enable him to return to competitive action soon.”

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he’s focussed firmly on the present and not looking too far ahead in terms of his place in the side or his captaincy

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2011Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has said he’s focussed firmly on the present and not looking too far ahead in terms of his place in the side or his captaincy. “Frankly speaking, I have never thought whether my career will continue till the next World Cup [2015] as it’s too far to dwell,” he told the . “No one can predict even about tomorrow, while the next World Cup is four years away.”Therefore it is better for me to concentrate on fitness and form in order to deliver my best performance for the team.”Misbah, 37, added that if asked by the PCB to step down, he would be willing to do so. “It is the prerogative of the board to appoint any suitable captain for the team and I am ready to quit [captaincy] whenever the PCB deems it appropriate.”Misbah was appointed Pakistan’s Test captain in October last year and led them to their first series win outside the subcontinent in seven years when they beat New Zealand 1-0 in January, earlier this year. Following Shahid Afridi’s public comments hinting at his disagreement with coach Waqar Younis upon his arrival from the Caribbean, the board replaced Afridi with Misbah as ODI captain in May.Misbah, who has played 25 Tests, has captained Pakistan in six Tests so far, with two wins, one loss and three draws. While his career batting average is 44.32, as captain he averages 90.28. In his first assignment as ODI captain, he led Pakistan to a 2-0 win over Ireland in May. Misbah said he was keen on improving his own batting rather than dwelling too much over his captaincy. “It is the [individual] performance that can help you keep your place in the team or can enable you to retain captaincy. Therefore, everyone should concentrate on producing a prolific [individual] show,” he said.Misbah, who has played 32 Twenty20 games so far, said he would take part in the domestic Super Eight Twenty20 tournament beginning on June 24. “The T20 tournament will provide the best opportunity to all the players to get some on-field action as the national team has a long period off from international cricket.”

Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket was a success on the field, but it will take at least “five to ten years” to have the same effect on the board’s bank balance. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will incur over US$2 million in losses as they re-enter into the game’s

Firdose Moonda in Harare09-Aug-2011Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket was a success on the field, but it will take at least “five to ten years” to have the same effect on the board’s bank balance. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will incur over US$2 million in losses as they re-enter into the game’s premier format this summer.ZC are hosting three tours in the space of five months, playing one Test against each of Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand and a bigger number ODIs and Twenty20 matches. “It costs us around $1.1 million to host a tour,” Ozias Bvute, managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket told ESPNcricinfo. “We only earn about $200,000 from TV rights, although it will be slightly less against New Zealand, and about $150,000 from sponsorship.” The deficit, of around $750,000 per tour, is made up through loans from local banks, who allow ZC to repay them over an extended period.Given the rate at which cricket is growing in the country, Bvute believes it will take up to a decade for the debt to be cleared and for ZC to start making profits. “It’s a really vicious cycle,” an insider said. “We have to get more sponsorship, but the only way we can do that is by playing and winning and we can’t play any more if we don’t have the money to have more series.”Cricket boards only earn money when they are hosting and Zimbabwe have calculate that only the hosting of India or England will result in a profit, because of the sums of the amount they can make in broadcasting rights, but even that is not an easy option for them. “England have a policy that they don’t tour Zimbabwe and India are not available to come very often, so that makes it hard,” the insider said.Instead, ZC has had to find ways to attract more sponsorship from local sources which they have done by presenting them with a bigger market to advertise to. “In order for cricket to be sustainable, we needed people to participate,” Bvute said. “So now that we have both black and white supporters watching cricket and attending matches we can work on creating a commodity that is financially viable.” There are signs of that already happening, with the domestic twenty-over competition almost breaking even, suffering only “minute losses of about US$80,000”.The introduction of the franchise system two seasons ago has been an essential part of ZC’s attempt at financial revival because it has allowed for 100 cricketers in the country to earn salaries. The ZC supplies the five franchises with grants to contract 20 players each, although often for small amounts. Another source revealed that a franchise rookie contract is worth $200-300 a month and that the senior players earn around $5000 a month, but national players can expect to earn more than that once central contracts come into effect.Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu raised the issue of no national contracts and the ZC have said they will address the situation by awarding contracts for 12 core players at the start of the domestic season, when franchise contracts come up for renegotiation.The other major concern is the non-payment of match fees, another matter brought up by Taibu in his criticism of the administration. “There is a provision in the player contracts that says we can pay match fees up until 180 days after a tour,” Bvute said. Taibu indicated that match fees had not been paid in a period longer than the stipulated six months, with some players still waiting for their money from the series in Bangladesh that was played in December last year. The board is aware of the problem and Bvute said that they “hope to be able to pay all our players as soon as we can”.

Wicketkeeper Phil Mustard smashed an explosive century as the Durham Dynamos kept their semi-final hopes in the Clydesdale Bank 40 alive with an eight-wicket win over the Northamptonshire Steelbacks

21-Aug-2011
ScorecardWicketkeeper Phil Mustard smashed an explosive century as the Durham Dynamos kept their semi-final hopes in the Clydesdale Bank 40 alive with an eight-wicket win over the Northamptonshire Steelbacks.The Steelbacks posted 247 for 7 from their 40 overs, with David Willey hammering 57 off 48 balls and Alex Wakely 55 off 43 deliveries. Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick took two wickets each at Northampton. Mustard then dominated the Northamptonshire attack in clattering a sensational 139 not out off 93 balls, including 11 fours and seven sixes, as the Dynamos easily reached their target with 58 deliveries to spare.The hosts won the toss and chose to bat and the in-form Wakely raced to 50 off just 34 balls as part of an opening partnership of 115 with Willey. Willey, who smashed four sixes, also completed a half-century – his coming off 43 deliveries, but Durham finally had a breakthrough when he departed when he was bowled by Ian Blackwell.Wakely soon followed when he was trapped lbw by Gareth Breese before David Sales (seven) went cheaply by chipping Borthwick to Dynamos captain Dale Benkenstein at mid-on. Rob Newton was to fall on 49 when he was left bamboozled by Borthwick’s googly and saw his off stump hit. Rob White plundered 39 before edging England international Graham Onions’ short delivery to Mustard.Former England man Collingwood then claimed the wickets of James Middlebrook (11) and Steelbacks captain Andrew Hall (19) in the final over. They were caught respectively by Will Smith at deep midwicket and Ben Stokes at long on as the Dynamos were set a target of 248.The visitors got off to a flying start in blasting 75 off the opening powerplay but Mark Stoneman was to perish on 27 when he launched Hall to David Burton at mid-on. Mustard hung around to quickly reach 50 off only 33 balls as the runs continued to flow for Durham and they were already more than half way towards their target by the end of the 14th over.Stokes, called into the England squad for the one-day international against Ireland, made 28 before he was well caught by White at mid-off off Willey. Mustard then completed his fourth century in one-day cricket off 81 deliveries as he and Collingwood, with an unbeaten 38, added 111 between them. Eventually the winning score came when Mustard smashed White for six over midwicket in the 31st over as he claimed his highest one-day score.

ESPNcricinfo previews the CLT20 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and South Australia

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit04-Oct-2011Match factsRoyal Challengers Bangalore v South Australia, October 5, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Will Daniel Vettori be able to hold the Royal Challengers attack together again?•Associated PressBig PictureThe final Champions League Twenty20 semi-final spot will be decided by the result of the last league game. A win will do for both sides, though Royal Challengers Bangalore would want the victory margin to be big enough to take their net run-rate past the Warriors in case they lose narrowly to Somerset. Both teams will know exactly what to do as they play last but the Royal Challengers will still need their bowlers to defend well, something they have failed to do for two-and-a-half of their three games.While the Royal Challengers’ dependence on Chris Gayle reached unhealthy proportions during the IPL itself, what has hurt them more in this tournament has been the inability of their bowlers to use the weight of runs to exert pressure. They finally managed to get it right against Somerset and managed to hold them off after a nervy first half of the chase.The small boundaries and quick outfield of the Chinnaswamy Stadium do make it a tough ground to defend totals, something Daniel Vettori has acknowledged. But three straight losses at the toss haven’t helped the Royal Challengers and Vettori will be hoping for more luck on that front against South Australia. They will also hope that the weather forecast of clear skies holds good, but having experienced the fickleness of the Bangalore rain on numerous occasions now, they won’t be betting against a washout.South Australia wouldn’t wish for rain either, having already had their game against Somerset in Bangalore abandoned. They have jettisoned their three-spinner combination for these conditions, an approach that gave them their only win against Kolkata Knight Riders. They had spoken of coming back with intensity and bravery after their opening loss to the Warriors. If Gayle clicks again, they’ll need the ability to hang in there as well.Watch out for …After two indifferent outings, Dirk Nannes responded strongly in the crucial match against Somerset, troubling them with pace, nip, bounce and his left-arm angle. His working over of Jos Buttler was skillful and relentless. Also helping him was the moisture in the pitch due to the rain earlier. To face his countrymen will be added motivation for him.Callum Ferguson is a batsman who likes to time the ball more than bludgeon it. He showed that he could shift gears effortlessly, though, against the Knight Riders in Hyderabad, moving from 23 off 24 to 70 off 40, clearing the longer boundaries at that ground quite comfortably. The ball has come on better at the Chinnaswamy, something he should enjoy.Team newsSouth Australia have settled on a bowling attack of two spinners and two seamers. Shaun Tait hasn’t been part of that combination after a poor first game. Given the size of the boundaries and the speed of the outfield in Bangalore, they would not want to risk playing him and should be fielding an unchanged side.The Royal Challengers brought in Arun Karthik to free Tillakaratne Dilshan of the wicketkeeping responsibilities against Somerset. They also persisted with Raju Bhatkal and Syed Mohammad. The same XI could be playing tomorrow.Stats and trivia Three of the five highest totals in this tournament have been scored in Bangalore Daniel Vettori has been the Royal Challengers’ best bowler by some distance, his five wickets coming at 6.50 runs per overQuotes”One mistake any team can make is to plan too much just for Gayle. Their top four is good and even in the middle they have some good players. Virat Kohli, Dilshan and [Saurabh] Tiwary are all playing really well.”

On the eve of his 100th Test, Kumar Sangakkara has called on the ICC to do away with two-Test series, describing such scheduling as “unsatisfying”

Daniel Brettig in Colombo15-Sep-2011On the eve of his 100th Test, Kumar Sangakkara has called on the ICC to do away with two-Test series, describing such scheduling as “unsatisfying”. The third Test against Australia at Colombo will offer Sangakkara and his team the chance to pull back a 1-0 deficit, but they have not always been so fortunate.As a stylish batsman, successful captain and articulate statesman for Sri Lankan cricket, Sangakkara said he had taken part in too many series where the narrative felt unduly clipped due to the lack of a third Test.One of his imponderables is the 2007 series in Australia, where the under-prepared visitors lost in Brisbane but then, through Sangakkara’s own majestic 192 in the second Test, pushed the hosts far further. The prospect of a third match might have made a significant change to the script.”It is unsatisfactory to play so many two-Test series,” Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo. “As a country, to be measured up as a Test country, you need to keep playing three to five Test match series as much as you can.”I don’t think five Test series are attractive anymore to TV networks, but I think Test series should be a minimum of three matches. I hope the ICC can stipulate that, I don’t know if they can.”Among forthcoming series, Australia’s visit to South Africa has been cut to two Tests to accommodate the Twenty20 Champions League, a move that has already been heavily criticised for marginalising Test cricket.”Test cricket is still, to my mind, the most important form of the game out there,” Sangakkara said. “There’s nothing like it, there’s nothing that comes close to it. This is the only arena where you can really make your mark as a cricketer. If you are successful at Test cricket, that is all that matters I think.”Sri Lanka’s success since Sangakkara’s debut in 2000 has been charted largely under overseas coaches, including Tom Moody and Trevor Bayliss. However Sangakkara is fervent in his desire for a home-grown mentor to take the role full-time, and cited the former opening batsman Chandika Hathurusingha as an ideal candidate.”I think we have a great opportunity to have a completely Sri Lankan coaching unit. That will be amazing if we can do it,” Sangakkara said. “And we’ve had candidates the calibre of Chandika Hathurusingha, who is now the assistant coach for New South Wales. He has been a great loss to us.”He made an amazing contribution to our cricket, and he is an extremely capable coach. Rumesh Ratnayake has also been exemplary, unfortunately he has come at a time when we’ve had quite a bad series, but these two people have shown we have the quality in Sri Lanka to have a completely local coaching unit which we can be proud of, and second to none in the world.”At the same time if the administration and the captain also think a foreign coach is the way to go, that is also no problem, because there are many excellent coaches around the world … There is Graham Ford, Geoff Marsh and a lot of other coaches in the running for this job, they’re fantastic people, they’ve got great records and have proven themselves all over the world.”Any one of them would be a great addition to our cricket, but on a personal level, and it’s not a sentimental thing, I think we have the quality in Sri Lanka as well, unfortunately not in Sri Lanka now. One of them is outside coaching NSW, but we have the Sri Lankans capable of also being national coaches and doing a great job.”

The brothers McCullum ensured that New Zealand sealed their two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe with a convincing win in the second game

The Report by Firdose Moonda17-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendon McCullum set up New Zealand’s big total with a rapid half-century•AFPThe brothers McCullum ensured that New Zealand sealed their two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe with a convincing win in the second game. Brendon scored 64 off 37 balls and Nathan took three key wickets with his offspin to wreck Zimbabwe’s hope of evening the series. The hosts were more competitive than they had been in the previous game; after an ordinary performance in the field they batted bravely, but the target was too tall for them.Chris Mpofu started well, with five, precise, back-of-a-length deliveries but indiscipline crept in when his sixth delivery was a legside wide that ended up costing five runs. Kyle Jarvis also had an impressive initial burst with his first ball resulting in a confident appeal for lbw against McCullum. The ball looked destined for middle and leg stump but the umpire did not think so. McCullum was on two at the time and went on to capitalise on his good fortune. The floodgates opened when he clipped Jarvis over mid-wicket for six in the same over.Another six, off an Mpofu slower ball took New Zealand to 28 without loss when rain interrupted play after three overs. The 20-minute break shaved four overs off the game, reducing it to 18 overs a side. It should also have given Zimbabwe’s bowlers enough time to rethink their strategies, but it served only to motivate McCullum and Guptill, who returned to the crease breathing fire.The better they batted, the worse Zimbabwe bowled. Jarvis could not find the right length; Prosper Utseya tossed it up too much and even Ray Price was guilty of dropping it too short. McCullum took a particular liking to Utseya, smacking him for two sixes in the ninth over to get to the brink of his half-century. His fifty came up, surprisingly, with a single off Elton Chigumbura.Just when it looked as though the rest of New Zealand’s batsmen might not get a chance to occupy the crease, Zimbabwe got a breakthrough with the first ball of Jarvis’ third over. McCullum tried the paddle scoop and missed.But the dismissal was a false dawn. Even as it sent one powerhitter back to the dressing room, it brought another one out. Jesse Ryder played carefully for the first few balls he was at the crease and then pulled Utseya over square leg for four to announce his arrival. With McCullum gone, Guptill took over and reached a fifty of his own, without taking many risks. He pummelled Mpofu in the 16th over, before falling to a big shot off Jarvis.Although the stats do not reflect it, Zimbabwe’s bowlers produced a number of good deliveries. Unfortunately for them, they also sent down at least one hittable delivery in every over. Mpofu finally got it right in the final over, when he bowled full and straight and was able to squeeze the New Zealand batsmen, but it was too little, too late.Zimbabwe will take heart from their chase, which started in promising fashion, was quickly pegged back with early two wickets but then took flight again. With moisture still hanging in the air, Hamilton Masakadza was undone by seam movement from Doug Bracewell and was caught behind. In the next over, Brendan Taylor was bowled by a slower ball from Aldridge.Instead of allowing the innings to unravel, Chamu Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura took the fight to New Zealand. Chibhabha, a man known for his ability to hit the ball a long way in domestic cricket, tucked into debutant Graeme Aldridge, who bowled too full at first and too short later. Chigumbura dealt with changes in length and speed in the same fashion, by taking dispatching the deliveries over the boundary and Chibhabha did well to attack the spinners. Their third-wicket partnership of 57 threatened to give Zimbabwe an unlikely chance at victory but Nathan McCullum put an end to any thoughts of a win.He got rid of Chigumbura after reacting speedily to take a good return catch and dismissed Charles Coventry for a duck in the same fashion. Chibhabha continued to fight hard but, after reaching his highest score in this format, was undone by the two brothers: he was stumped by Brendon off Nathan. With Chibhabha gone, Zimbabwe’s chase fizzled out and came to an ignominious end with four wickets falling in four balls in the 17th over, two of them run-outs.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has admitted that Lasith Malinga’s arrival will add incisiveness to Sri Lanka’s attack, but believes his side is ready for the challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2011Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, has admitted that Lasith Malinga’s arrival will add incisiveness to Sri Lanka’s attack, but believes his side is ready for the challenge. Speaking ahead of the limited-overs leg of the UAE series, Misbah stressed on Pakistan’s strong track record against Sri Lanka’s unconventional yorker specialist.”It creates a difference when Lasith Malinga’s there because everybody knows he’s a very good bowler, but we’re ready for that,” Misbah said. “We’ve played a lot of games against him and I think our guys have played him very well.Malinga comes off a stunning run in Mumbai Indians’ victorious Champions League T20 campaign, where he picked up ten wickets – all bowled and lbw – in addition to scoring crucial runs down the order. He is just one wicket away from 150 ODI wickets, and is poised to become the fastest Sri Lanka bowler to reach that landmark. Pakistan, however, have had a measure of success against him, losing only 10 wickets in nine prior outings, at an average of 47.66 each. Five of those wickets, though, came in a match-winning spell in the last outing between the two sides.”It’s an edge for them to have Lasith Malinga in the side, but if we look at our side we have Shahid Afridi and some other very good cricketers too,” Misbah said. “Of course, it’s a different ball game [after the Tests] but the guys who are coming back have played a lot of one-day cricket and they know what to do, so we’re ready. Sri Lanka is a very good team but our team is ready to do well and we’re just focusing on the one-day series now.”Afridi’s return to the Pakistan side, after calling off his ‘conditional’ retirement under the Ijaz Butt regime, is the other subplot that has generated interest in the lead-up to the series. Afridi has said he wants to put his controversial exit behind him, and focus on contributing to the side. Abdul Razzaq also makes a comeback, adding firepower and bowling variety to the side.Misbah also believes the conditions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium – venue of the first three ODIs – will favour his side.”The atmosphere, the stadium – it’s really good to play here,” he said. “Normally you feel the heat playing in the UAE but in this stadium in particular, the way it’s built, it’s really good for the players and you don’t feel that heat. The atmosphere’s really good with the way the stands are built, everybody loves to play here and it’s a real plus point for our team.”Though Pakistan have the momentum following the Test series win, Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh believes his side are the favourites for the ODIs. World Cup finalists Sri Lanka are rated second on the ODI table, while Pakistan are sixth.”We like to think we’ve got the edge but we’ve got to go out and prove that,” Marsh said. “We believe we’re a very good one-day side but once the game begins, then we’ve got to go out and play good one-day cricket. We know we’ve got to play really well to beat them.”Sri Lanka’s preparation for the series has been marred by chairman of selectors Duleep Mendis’ recent criticism of the players and support staff, but Marsh played down the issue.”Of what he wrote on Cricinfo? I only read the first couple of lines, I didn’t read the rest,” Marsh said. “It’s something that got written but I don’t know about it.”I’m really enjoying my job. The Sri Lanka players are a great bunch of lads and they all work really hard. They’ve set long and short-term goals and we are working towards reaching them.”