been a good time so far. apart has been a good time so far. apart from breaking your leg you are having a decent time. thank you, enjoy the match. a couple of the chelsea fans there. a couple of the chelsea fans there. a lot of the fans here are not from the uk, as you would normally expect atan the uk, as you would normally expect at an event like this. you would normally expect a lot more of them. a lot of people here have azeri flags, dancing to azeri music, singing azeri songs, it is a local flavour to the match here tonight. important for azerbaijan to showcase itself as it wants to, as a venue for international events like this, major events. it started with eurovision, they have had the european games here. that is what the stadium was built for. now the europa league final. pressure and doubts ahead of this match but now we can focus on matters on the pitch. many thanks indeed. the atmosphere will be very different. parks london derby, part fancy dress party as

well. we will show you a wonderful march that we had can pass this year in the last hour or so. celebrating all things english. they were loving it. there is a lot of other sports news around. for it. there is a lot of other sports news around. foi’ now it. there is a lot of other sports news around. for now let us head back to the bbc sports centre. tomorrow england will open the world cup in their match against south africa. they go into the tournament on home soil as favourites, which captain eoin morgan says hes happy about. their opponants south africa have been dealt a hefty blow however, as andy swiss reports. welcome to the oval, where the waiting is very nearly over, because tomorrow morning 25,000 fans will be packed into those stands behind me as england get their world cup under way against south africa. fear to see england do not have a great record in recent world cups. the last to admit four years ago they we re last to admit four years ago they were knocked out at the opening stage. but there is a real confidence around the team. they are

the favourites with the bookmakers. their batting is particularly impressive. lots of hefty hitters, the likes of jos impressive. lots of hefty hitters, the likes ofjos buttler, jonny ba i rstow, the likes ofjos buttler, jonny bairstow, and of course the captain eoin morgan. the level of expectation is therefore a reason. for the last few years our form at home in particular has been outstanding. that is the reason it is there. world cups i have played in and people in the changing have played in, little expectation. we have not done that well. i would pick this position over any other. one of england's —— what's up in the's opponents tomorrow? south africa have never won the world cup, they have suffered an injury blow on they have suffered an injury blow on the eve of the tournament. they will be missing their experience fast bowler. he is a big loss to our team. we did not expect that when we picked the squad. he was probably about 60% when the squad respect. we anticipated for this to happen. but

the attack is a strong one. tomorrow there will be chopping and changing to make sure we can contain england. the absence of that player a real blow to south africa. as for the format of the tournament, it is relatively straightforward. ten teams taking part. they will play a round robin stage, with the top four teams going through to the semifinals. as for the other main contenders, of course there is india, the second favourites with the bookmakers. they have for many people the top batsmen in the world. also, australia, the raining champions. they are welcoming back steve smith and david warner after their suspensions for ball tampering. it will be interesting to see what sort of reaction they get from the crowd. but england, very much the team to beat when the tournament gets under way here at the oval tomorrow morning. so england might be the favourites

but who are the teams to look out for in the tournamet? ben croucher has been taking a look for us. we thought football might be coming home last year, can the cricketers go one better this year? many people predicting that england are going to win it for the first time. who else has caught your eye? india are always up there. they have got one of the best batsmen in the world, a competitive side. their bowling might be a weak spot but this will be a world cup where runs will dominate. australia, they have won it so many times, they are defending champions. had a difficult couple of years and with david warner and steve smith coming back into it, but i feel they are always a danger and they are so competitive. england against the auld enemy. for me new zealand are the dark horses of the tournament, they have got the best attacking bowling, and i think bowling will win this tournament and they are led brilliantly by one of the best batsmen in the world.

everybody is talking about the batsmen that are going to be the stars of this world cup. jos buttler, williamson, but you have picked out for players to keep an eye on. one of the new zealand bowlers. he isa bowlers. he is a left arm out. he is crucial. he is a left arm out. he is crucial. he can take a bowling attack apart. you need that consistency. someone who can limit the rands, who can keep a lid on everything. he is that man. if he fires new zealand will do incredibly well. he will be bowling at the start of an innings against jason he will be bowling at the start of an innings againstjason roy. and jonny bairstow at the top of that order, england will be difficult to stop. england, from where they were four yea rs england, from where they were four years ago, a complete 360. one of the best partnerships in the world. roy and jonny bairstow have good partnership and communication. if they get good weather they could fly. now that number one test batsman in

the world, number ii—day batsmen in the world, number ii—day batsmen in the world, number ii—day batsmen in the world, does not always produce it in english conditions that he is 30 years of age and in the prime of his career. this could be his world cup. last summer he showed how determined he was to score in english conditions, he is a very competitive man. he will be determined to do as well as he can. and of all the australians you could have pics, steve smith and david warner coming back, you have gone for glenn maxwell. why? he is a key playerfor them both with bat and ball. he can take tickets —— take wickets. middle overs. he is very intelligent as a batsmen. he is notjust a slugger. it will be important that they have someone it will be important that they have someone in maxwell who can come in and steady it. lastly, there world cup, it is being billed as the great tournament in england that can recapture the imagination of young people. just

like the ashes did in 2005. but here is an article that says the world cup should inspire a new generation of cricket fans but it will not mainly because it is on sky tv behind a pay wall. what do you make of that? it is difficult. a lot will depend on how england are. we saw with their women's world cup two years ago when england won, people got behind them by the final. if england can perform toa by the final. if england can perform to a standard that we know they can, it will create more of a profile for cricket. 95% of the tickets have been sold for the tournament already. i hope that we see a lot of kids and families there, that will be crucial. in 2005i be crucial. in 2005 i was still a teenager, that victory got me into cricket. it will be difficult, it will defend all performances. hopefully england will do well and get all the way to the final. plenty more are available on the bbc sport

website. test match special on five live sports extra. england versus south africa, the opening game of the world cup, starts at half past ten. thousands have been paying their last respects at the funeral of the formula one legend niki lauda in vienna. world champion lewis hamilton was among the mourners along with former drivers alain prost, sirjackie stewart and nico rosberg. the three—time world champion, who survived an horrific crash at the german grand prix in 1976, passed away last week at the age of 70. andy carroll, samir nasri and adrian will all leave west ham the club has confirmed. their contracts expire next month. carroll scored 3a goals in 142 appearances over seven seasons, while goalkeeper adrian was at the club for six years. to paris now and johanna konta is on court against the american lauren davis in the second round of the french open.

johanna konta had not been keen on clay but this season she reached the finals in morocco. she took the first set. she raced through the second set winning 6—i. johanna konta has often suffered from lapses in concentration but she has regained her focus to take control of the match. she is currently 5—3 up of the match. she is currently 5—3 up in the final set, serving for the match. it's been a busy day at the french open. last year's women's runner—up sloane stephens is through to the third round. the american number seven seed beat sara sorribes tormo of spain in straight sets. rafa nadal is aiming for a record extending i2th men's singles title at roland garros. yannick maden was briefly in his way. the 17 time grand slam champion swept the german qualifier aside. he won in straight sets 6—1, 6—2, 6—4. number three seed roger federer is paying his first visit in four years to the tournament.

he's beaten germany's oscar otte three sets to love to move into the third round. anthonyjoshua says world heavyweight title opponent andy ruinunior will be more dangerous than fellow champion deontay wilder. joshua is the odds—on favourite to retain his three belts against ruiz when they meet at madison square garden in new york on saturday. why is ruiz more dangerous than deontay wilder? when i weigh up the two, i would take the opportunity of deontay wilder, that is how much i wa nt to deontay wilder, that is how much i want to fight, i want to get straight to the big fight. we are counting the minutes until kick off in the europa league final. let's go back to ollie foster in baku. many thanks. they are still pouring

in. the gates have been open for a couple of hours. it is a sell out here. not many from the uk because, we have heard the stories, we will hear 1000 stories of how they got here. we have just hear 1000 stories of how they got here. we havejust had hear 1000 stories of how they got here. we have just had the team using for the europa league final. very interesting. chelsea, who are at the home team here tonight for this london derby, kante who was rated only 50—50 in the chelsea midfield, he will start. arrizabalaga is midfield, he will start. arriza balaga is in midfield, he will start. arrizabalaga is in goal. davidge louise in the heart of defence. emerson and azpilicueta out wide. ka nte emerson and azpilicueta out wide. kante in the middle. eden hazard in what is expected to be his last game for chelsea before probably joining deal madrid. arsenal also are pretty much as expected. unai emery has been loyal to petr cech. it will be

his last game for arsenal. he gets the nod over the number one goalkeeper. he has been there cap keeper. ozil, what an up—and—down season he has had. aubameyang and la cazette who season he has had. aubameyang and lacazette who put valencia to the sword in the semifinals, up front. those are your two teams in what is an all english week of european finals. just to show you quickly, a fantastic match we had here. azerbaijan fan stressed as the queen, freddie mercury, the beatles, we had paddington bear, a marching band, incredible scenes. there will be thousands of azerbaijani fans celebrating everything english. you will be celebrating here in the europa league final? they have come a long way to see it. for the losers it will be an awful lot longer going home. from all of us here it is

goodbye. after a reasonable start to the day with morning sunshine the cloud has been thickening. damn weather pushing in two wheels. —— damp weather pushing in two wheels. during the second part the rain will be confined to western parts. westerly wind picks up and it will be blowing and some mild air by the end of the night, 15 celsius in london, coolerfor the end of the night, 15 celsius in london, coolerforthe far end of the night, 15 celsius in london, cooler for the far north of scotland. the best of the de's sunshine will be in shetland on thursday but northerly winds keeping the temperature back at ten. elsewhere, cloudy but it mild start with some dampness particularly across western areas. through the

afternoon more general rain will spread into northern ireland, scotla nd spread into northern ireland, scotland and western england. rain will turn heavier through the afternoon. we are cloud breaks across eastern england it will become quite warm.

you're watching beyond 100 days. bob mueller breaks his silence with an explosive statement on the investigation into russia and trump. the special counsel defends his report and says that if he'd had evidence the president did not commit a crime, he would have said just that. mr mueller says the russians did meddle in the us election but he did not clear mr trump of obstructing the investigation. if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. the american midwest is pummelled by tornadoes. for 13 days in a row, twisters have devastated the region. also on the programme — the frontrunner for the tory leadership