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According to a report from Spanish newspaper Sport (via Sport Witness), Liverpool have already made an offer to sign Leeds United winger Raphinha.

The lowdown: Superb start

Since arriving in England from French Ligue 1 club Rennes for an initial £17million in October 2020 (BBC), the Brazilian forward has been a revelation at Leeds.

The 25-year old has scored 15 times and provided a further 12 assists in 59 outings for the Yorkshire club, earning senior international recognition with Brazil in the process.

Of course, this has led to links with a move away, particularly this season as the Whites flirt with relegation, and Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth has even confirmed an exit is very possible this summer with Barcelona lying in wait.

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The latest: Offers in

As per the latest report from Sport, as translated by SW, Liverpool, Barcelona and Chelsea are all attentive to the ace’s situation and he will definitely not sign a new contract in Yorkshire.

It’s claimed that the agent of the seven-cap Brazilian, Deco, is already in talks with the two Premier League clubs, ‘handling offers’ from both Anfield and Stamford Bridge.

The verdict: A Salah replacement?

Whilst it’s nigh on impossible to emulate the goal return of Mohamed Salah, as the Egyptian’s ongoing contract saga rumbles on, the need for a long-term successor appears to grow ever stronger.

Having taken to life in the Premier League like a duck to water, the man hailed as ‘tremendous’ by former red Danny Murphy following a stunning strike against Everton would fit the bill on Merseyside.

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This season, Raphinha has netted nine goals and registered three assists in 27 league outings, some way short of Salah’s return, but impressive given the struggles at Leeds this term.

Valued at £36million and under contract at Elland Road until 2024 (Transfermarkt), Liverpool may well be praying Leeds go down so they can swoop in and offer a lower fee.

In other news, Liverpool have been linked with an exciting EPL attacking signing. Read more here.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

	James Anderson rocked New Zealand with 5 for 73 © Getty Images

England grasped control of the second Test in Wellington, with James Anderson picking up his fourth five-wicket haul to help dismiss New Zealand for 198 shortly before stumps on the second day. With a lead of 144, and on what remains an excellent pitch, England’s hopes of levelling the three-match series grow by the day.Before this Test, Michael Vaughan spoke of his excitement at the change in personnel following the semi-ruthless double-axing of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison. And although Tim Ambrose’s credentials have increased exponentially following his attractive maiden hundred and silky-smooth keeping, it was Anderson and Stuart Broad – the new, young bowling replacements – who Vaughan most needed to pass the litmus test. Both did just that.After Ambrose’s superb maiden hundred – becoming the first England wicketkeeper in 11 years to reach a ton on foreign soil since Alec Stewart in 1997 – Anderson was immediately to the fore, ripping out New Zealand’s top three in perfect bowling conditions. Much as England’s lower order had struggled, New Zealand’s openers couldn’t cope with Anderson’s natural away swing. The ball to remove Matthew Bell was as unplayable as Jacob Oram’s crackerjack to Vaughan yesterday, knocking over his off stump and giving the bowler the confidence to pitch it up. Jamie How prodded meekly at another outswinger, as did a quizzical Mathew Sinclair, and after 16 overs New Zealand had slipped to a precipitous 31 for 3.They weren’t finished, however. Stephen Fleming – playing for the last time on his home ground – and in particular Ross Taylor took the attack to England in a fourth-wicket stand of 71, laden with counterattacking strokes in front of square. There was a determined (perhaps sentimental) stickiness to Fleming which contrasted starkly with Taylor’s natural inclination to force the scoring rate, and the pair made hay while England’s concentration noticeably slipped. Monty Panesar’s fielding was at its most clumsy and costly, letting through two fours and missing a run-out opportunity – though he was on the receiving end of a dreadfully panicky throw from Kevin Pietersen at cover.Fleming threw away his wicket with a careless slap to point and, after Taylor brought up an attractive 74-ball fifty, he became Anderson’s fifth victim when he pushed forward at another awayswinger. It was Anderson’s fourth five-wicket haul, and you could hear the rumbles of discontent grow ever noisier at Auckland’s decision to employ him last week.At 113 for 6 New Zealand were in danger of folding like a pack of cards, but in came their most in-form and dangerous pair, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori, who smacked 52 in little more than five overs. McCullum looked in bristling form, charging Anderson and shuffling to the off side. A wonderful back-foot drive past Broad looked to have dented his confidence, but impressively he had the gumption to pitch it up two balls later, handing Andrew Strauss his second safe slip catch.Vettori at least managed to cut down England’s lead with another hugely valuable and immensely infuriating fifty – brought up off his 42nd ball with the most audacious of uppercuts for six over third man. However, Paul Collingwood mopped up the tail with career-best figures of 3 for 23 as New Zealand were dismissed for 198 with about half-an-hour of the day’s play remaining.Alastair Cook and Vaughan survived the last five overs and, leading by 148, England are in the box seat and ready to bat New Zealand totally out of the game.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Daren Powell got three wickets and at 35 for 5 the game was over as a contest © AFP

For the clearest indication of just how schizophrenic Bangladesh’s World Cup has been, all you had to do was see the run-out of Tamim Iqbal and the shot of a Bangladeshi fan in the crowd, mouth cupped in shock even as tears ran down his cheeks, seconds after the madness. This was just the way it was for Bangladesh on an ultimately disappointing day that saw them win the toss, stifle an unmotivated West Indies to 67 for 3 after 25 overs, and then let a gettable target of 231 end in another batting disaster. It all added up to a 99-run loss to West Indies on a gorgeous afternoon at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, and a record of 9-4-6 in their greatest tournament, of any capacity, yet.As for the hosts this was their first win in the Super Eights, but many local fans would’ve shaken their heads in the first over. Corey Collymore got Tamim to stand and nick one to Brian Lara at second slip, who pouched it in his lap. He seemed to have full control of the ball but it slipped from his grasp as he turned to congratulate his bowler. The sight of an uncertain Lara, who picked up the ball and looked to the umpire with his arms raised in question wasn’t enough to convince anyone, and Tamim was called back.Tamim probably hasn’t read Horace, and so failed to seize the day. Javed Omar dabbed one to the off side and both batsmen set off. Dwayne Bravo swooped in from point; suddenly, Tamim froze and turned back. Omar continued with the run and passed Tamim as both batsmen were stuck at the non-striker’s end. Picture the shot of that poor fan again.West Indies cashed in on that break, and then made further inroads. Collymore dismissed Aftab Ahmed with one that lifted off a length, shaped away and drew the edge into Denesh Ramdin’s gloves. As Collymore celebrated with his signature three-fingered salute, Lara made sure he was the first man to reach him. It just got better for West Indies when Saqibul Hasan was dismissed for a duck at 23 for 3 after 11 overs.Mohammad Ashraful pulled Daren Powell to square leg, Omar edged him to Chris Gayle at first slip and at 35 for 5 the game was over as a contest. When Lara dropped Habibul Bashar at a wide slip – his third of the day – you had to wonder why there weren’t more slips in place. Two more were added and sure enough, Bravo plucked a sharp catch over his head at third slip to get rid of Bashar as Bangladesh slipped to 52 for 6. Bashar, undoubtedly due for a roasting from fans when he gets home, failed to end his tournament on a personal good note. Mushfiqur Rahim (38 not out) and Mashrafe Mortaza (37) delayed the inevitable with a 58-run seventh-wicket partnership, but did little to take the gloss off a poor day at the shop. Mohammad Rafique, nine years and two days to the match in which he scored Bangladesh’s first ODI half-century to set up their first win, fell for a duck and a much-needed West Indian victory was wrapped up soon after.The abysmal batting was in stark contrast to the way Bangladesh bowled. Mortaza and Syed Rasel, were brilliant after Bashar decided to field and once the openers were knocked off early, the spinners piled on the pressure as they quickly found assistance from the bare pitch. There was swing early for Mortaza, who adhered to a fabulous line, and there was evidence of the extra bounce as every batsman hopped up and lunged forward, played and missed and withdrew the bat. Devon Smith joined Chris Gayle up the order and made no impact. Against a controlled Mortaza, swinging it both ways, he got a fuller one that pitched on middle and off and moved away to remove his off stump.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul laid the platform for West Indies’ 230 after the first 25 overs yielded just 67 runs © AFP

At the other end Rasel kept it simple which was more than enough to keep the batsmen guessing. Doing a Nathan Bracken, Rasel pitched it on a good length, slanted it across the right-handers and dried up the runs. Of all the things West Indies anticipated for the World Cup, Gayle being so ineffective was nowhere on the list. The horrors continued today as Gayle, already undone by a bouncer from Mortaza, fell to one from Rasel that was full on pitching. As it straightened, it caught him lunging half-cock forward, and he was struck in front of off stump.The famed left-arm spin troika, Abdur Razzak, Rafique and Saqibul bowled well too, keeping it flat and quick, but were let down by Bashar’s field placings which, after three quickets before 25 overs, looked more like he was playing for damage control rather than ramming home the advantage.It was easy fodder for a hustling Ramnaresh Sarwan, the only batsman to show an appetite for a scrap. With Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who plodded along in what has become standard fashion to an 85-ball 50, Sarwan added 81 in 16.1 overs for the fourth wicket, his contribution being 46. Where the first 25 overs yielded just 67 runs, against a very disciplined new-ball attack, the last 25 brought 167, thanks to Sarwan and Lara’s enterprising 60-run fifth-wicket stand. It was a typical Sarwan innings, keeping with his tournament form. He struggled at the death due to exhaustion, but still ran the twos and found the gaps to finish unbeaten on 91 at better than a run-a-ball. With his imminent one-day international exit, and the rumours that that he will not be selected for the tour to England next month, Lara treated the partisan crowd to a 27-ball 33 cameo, with two fine sixes.In the end, it can be said that Bangladesh allowed West Indies to get too many. It can also be said that they were the second-best Asian side in the tournament, they carried that mantle with a respectable amount of professionalism and that they showed once and for all that they are minnows no more. West Indies have one game left, against another side already knocked out, but they have far less to take from a tournament billed as the greatest thing to happen to West Indian cricket than Bangladesh. It’s been that kind of World Cup for them.

Division One

3rd day
Not a great day for Chris Read nor for his county, Nottinghamshire, who slipped to a 41-run defeat against Sussex. After battling their way back into the game, Sussex went on to record a cracking victory set up by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (4 for 29) and Jason Lewry (3 for 23). Mushtaq Ahmed also contributed 3 for 58 to bowl out Notts for 120 and consign the champions to what had seemed to be an unlikely defeat. Resuming on 111 for 3 this morning, Sussex made it to 247 thanks to a vital 42 from Matt Prior, leaving Nottinghamshire to chase 161. But their innings was in immediate disarray when Jason Gallian had to retire hurt on 10. As wickets tumbled he made a return to the crease, only to fall for 15 (148 for 7). A ninth-wicket stand of 68 between Ryan Sidebottom and Mark Ealham, who made 52, briefly gave Notts promise, but was not enough.Hampshire are strongly placed heading into the final day at Edgbaston, having bossed proceedings for another day. They set Warwickshire a mountainous 407 after racing to 218 for 6 declared with James Adams leading from the front – he made 85 in just 105 balls, including five fours and three sixes. By the close, Warwickshire had managed to crawl to 69 for 2, still 338 runs adrift. This morning, in their first innings, Warwickshire’s lower order subsided under the force of a Shane Warne assault, losing Dougie Brown early and then the last four wickets fell for just 13 runs. Warne ended with 5 for 52.2nd day
Darren Lehmann fell seven runs short of a double century as Yorkshire and Kent piled up the runs at Headingley. Yorkshire made 382. Undaunted, Kent’s Robert Key and David Fulton put on 153 in a commanding opening stand. They each made fifties, but Yorkshire took three quick wickets to leave Kent on 196 for 3 by the close.Graham Onions took 4 for 82 as Middlesex‘s batsmen failed to cut the mustard against Durham. Owais Shah topscored with 68 but Middlesex were bowled out for 242, handing Durham a first-innings advantage of 106. By the end of the day Durham had stretched their lead to 186 runs and, with eight wickets left, they will be confident of boosting that to well over 400.

Division Two

3rd day
Leicestershire continued to pile on the pain for Glamorgan, forcing them to follow on after bowling them out for 297 in reply to their 525. By the close Glamorgan had made 37 for 1 and still require a further 191 runs to take them to parity. Today it was Claude Henderson who did the damage, with 4 for 77. Daniel Cherry and Michael Powell made half-centuries for Glamorgan, but their team will need more strong batting performances tomorrow to save the game.2nd day
Four players recorded centuries on day two as Somerset and Essex piled on the runs in their match at Taunton. Keith Parsons (153) and Peter Trego (102) took their seventh-wicket stand to 202 before a late flurry of wickets. Somerset made 471. Andrew Caddick then placed Essex in danger of following-on by reducing the visitors to 80 for 3 in reply. But the experienced campaigners Andy Flower (104 not out) and Ronnie Irani (108 not out) steadied the ship in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 202 as Essex closed on 282 for 3.Northamptonshire must have wished that Jon Lewis had been called into the Test side as he wrecked their top order at Bristol with a thrilling 4 for 35 from 16 overs. Northamptonshire now have a lead of 100 runs but just one wicket in hand, and Gloucestershire will back themselves to register their second win of the season tomorrow.Derbyshire continued to go from strength-to-strength in their match against Worcestershire. They lost Steve Stubbings before the close but are still strongly placed, at 54 for 1, a lead of 114 runs. Vikram Solanki struck a century and Steven Davies made 49 to take Worcestershire to 278, a first-innings deficit of 60. Ian Hunter led the rallying call with 4 for 92, while Steffan Jones added 3 for 58 to hand Derbyshire the advantage.

Anthony McGrath on his way to a top score of 74 for Yorkshire © Getty Images

Yorkshire held their nerve against Worcestershire to secure a 14-run win. Ian Harvey and Craig White used all their experience to put in two excellent displays of death bowling. Despite a 117-run stand between Kabir Ali (67) and Zander de Bruyn (82) the asking-rate continued to climb to over nine an over. White bowled Ali and had de Bruyn caught by Tim Bresnan. Ian Harvey used his slower-balls to good effect and the lower-order batsmen couldn’t find the boundaries needed. Yorkshire’s innings was based around a captain’s innings from Anthony McGrath. His 74 from 94 balls lifted Yorkshire from 88 for 4 after Michael Vaughan had been bowled by de Bruyn for 9.Surrey overcame the experience of the one-day specialists Gloucestershire to secure a three-wicket win at Bristol. Click here for a full match report.Middlesex left themselves with too much to do against Northamptonshire as Paul Weekes’s 105 proved in vain at Lord’s. Click here for a full match report.Kent eased into the quarter-finals with a thumping 127-run win against Derbyshire. After squeezing into the second round with their last-ball victory over Durham, Derbyshire did not put up much of a fight at Canterbury. Geraint Jones spent some welcome time in the middle as he cracked 70 from 75 balls. Matthew Walker hit 56 from 74 balls and Darren Stevens boosted the total with a brisk 47 from 42 deliveries. Derbyshire slumped to 27 for 5, as Martin Saggers claimed three wickets, and never threatened to approach their target with all the Kent attack chipping in.Warwickshire thoroughly outplayed Leicestershire as a superb performance in the field carried them to an 83-run win at Edgbaston. Dougie Brown rocked the Leicestershire top-order with a three-wicket burst to put the skids under their run-chase. Brown’s spell reduced them to 16 for 3 – and they never recovered – with Ian Bell and Alex Loudon also taking three wickets each. Heath Streak played his part, bowling eight overs for just 13 runs, after hitting a quick-fire 28 from 27 balls to lift Warwickshire’s total past 200. Nick Knight anchored the innings with 69 but a middle-order wobble left them grateful for the ninth-wicket stand of 55 between Streak and Tony Frost.

Andrew Flintoff celebrates dismissing Andy Flower at Old Trafford © Getty Images

Andrew Flintoff and Brad Hodge starred for Lancashire as they progressed into the next round with a six-wicket win over Essex at Old Trafford. Flintoff took four wickets – including Grant and Andy Flower – to restrict the Essex scoring-rate. The rest of the Lancashire attack took a wicket each and only Ravinder Bopara (42) made much of an impression with the bat. James Foster and Tim Phillips tried their best to lift the tempo but the target was always comfortable. After Alex Tudor struck twice, to remove Mal Loye and Stuart Law, Hodge played a perfectly paced one-day innings, adding 112 with Mark Chilton, before Flintoff finished the job.Hampshire powered past Glamorgan by six wickets at Cardiff. An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 130 between Nic Pothas and Kevin Pietersen made light work of a potentially testing target of 215. Pothas and Pietersen joined forces after Hampshire slipped to 89 for 4. Simon Katich fell first-ball and Simon Jones removed Shane Warne and Chris Tremlett – both sent in as pinch-hitters. But Pothas reached his second one-day century while Pietersen launched four sixes in his 64-ball 69. Sean Ervine starred with the ball, his 5 for 50 meant Glamorgan’s tail could build on a platform of 150 for 4, after Michael Powell was dismissed 56.Yorkshire v Northants at Headingley
Warwickshire v Kent at Edgbaston
Surrey v Hampshire at The Oval
Lancashire v Sussex/Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford (Sussex play Notts tomorrow)

James Kirtley: set to replace James Anderson © Getty Images

In every sense, except the one that matters most, Colombo’s weather has been regular as clockwork. At three o’clock this afternoon, with the groundstaff hovering expectantly between two practice nets in the middle of the Premadasa Stadium, the clouds rolled over and the rain came pouring down. It was the same story yesterday afternoon, and in all probability, it will be the same tomorrow as well, when the second one-day international is due to get underway.As things stand, the rain may be regular, but, in fact, it shouldn’t be raining at all. The current weather pattern has got the locals stumped. Sri Lanka’s captain, Marvan Atapattu, was at a loss to explain the conditions, which are usually dry and sunny by this time of the year, with the monsoon left long behind. “It is pretty unusual,” he said. “I can’t remember it raining this consistently in the past.””We can’t control the weather, so we leave it well alone,” said John Dyson, Sri Lanka’s new coach, who was still beaming at the facile nature of his first match in charge. Nevertheless, as an Australian, Dyson was far more bullish about his homeland’s prospects in Saturday’s rugby World Cup final, than he was about Sri Lanka’s chances of a clean sweep in this series. Strange really, seeing as he shares his name with a vacuum-cleaner manufacturer.”I would expect England to come back strongly,” warned Dyson. “After the Bangladesh series, maybe they were finding their cricket a little too easy. Tuesday’s game will have been a useful wake-up call, if that is what they needed. It is clear that they are starting to gel into a good unit, so I’d be surprised if they play like that again.”They were magnanimous words, but the gloomy weather has been the only appropriate reflection of England’s current mood. Just about everything that could go wrong in the last 48 hours, has gone wrong. As if the massacre in Dambulla wasn’t bad enough, England are now facing up to the probable loss of half their strike force for the first Test at Galle. Only minutes after Steve Harmison’s withdrawal had been confirmed last night, James Anderson twisted his ankle playing squash, and now faces a two-week lay-off.”The injury is less than 24 hours old and we will need a few days to assess it,” said Dean Conway, England’s physio. “We are quite optimistic at this stage that he will be back in 10 days to two weeks, but that is based on a quick judgment.” With Richard Johnson staying out in Harmison’s place, and Matthew Hoggard already flying out to join the squad, no decision has yet been taken on whether a replacement will be required for Anderson.But it just so happens that the next cab off the rank – to use the Australian vernacular – is the man against whom Anderson was playing when he suffered his injury. “We were just trying to get a bit of a sweat on,” protested James Kirtley, who is sure to take Anderson’s place tomorrow. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”I was actually at the other side of the court, attempting a return,” he added, disassociating himself from the injury as far as he possibly could, “when I heard a thud. We immediately feared the worst.”Kirtley is well aware of the success that another skiddy English paceman enjoyed in the 2001 series: “Darren Gough and I are not dissimilar in style.” It remains to be seen whether Kirtley would be as able and willing to go through his full repertoire of slower balls and legcutters to make an impact, although, it has to be said, the conditions are far more favourable than they were for Gough’s tour.For the time being, however, England’s chances of a swift revenge are very much in the hands of the elements. The most recent match to be held at the Premadasa Stadium was the Champions’ Trophy final between Sri Lanka and India, in September last year. That match really was scheduled slap-bang in the middle of the rainy season, and the upshot was a two-day farce in which no Champion could be determined, and no Trophy could be awarded outright.Once again, a reserve day has been scheduled – just in case – although that is unlikely to find much favour with either England’s players or their punters. Saturday’s rugby final might just ensure that the ground would be devoid of travelling supporters, long before the rains had their say.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 3 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Dinusha Fernando, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Nuwan Kulasekara.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Chris Read (wk), 9 Ashley Giles, 10 Richard Johnson, 11 James Kirtley.

It’s been a heck of a one-day season for Central Districts and Otago and not even good conditions in Invercargill today could provide the spark for an end of competition extravaganza for them.Central Districts left Queen’s Park, one of the more attractive grounds around New Zealand, with a 99-run victory and some satisfaction at last in what has been a disappointing defence of their national one-day title.The Stags won the toss and batted on a good wicket, reaching a total of 242/6 in their 50 overs. Hawera-born Peter Ingram scored his first century off 130 balls and was ably supported by Richard King 40 with whom he shared a 106-run partnership, and Ben Smith 28.Ingram was last man out of the six CD batsmen dismissed, in the 47th over.A key factor for CD was the fact all their batsmen got into double figures to reach their 242 total. The Otago bowling was adequate with Kerry Walmsley one for 37 and debutant Anthony Wilkinson none for 38 from his 10 overs, the best of the bowlers.The Otago off-spinners Nathan Morland (none for 39 off eight) and Nathan McCullum (none for 44 off seven) were a little expensive in comparison.On such a good batting wicket 242 seemed getable but alas the Otago batting which has been erratic all season had one of its bad days.So often it has depended on Andrew Hore giving the side a good start but he was out for a duck in the first over having faced only four balls. Craig Cumming scored only two, Lee Germon a duck and Martyn Croy one.Only Simon Beare, in his first Otago game, scored a fine 61. More will be heard of him. Morland with 28 assisted at No 8 but that was about it for Otago. Dismissed for 143, they lost by almost a hundred.Bowling for the Stags, Ewen Thompson with four for 41 from eight overs was a signal performer but Michael Mason with four for 16 had an outstanding spell. Brent Hefford one for 21 and Andrew Schwass one for 17 were both very economical and bowled a lot tighter than their Volts counterparts, though the early loss of Volts wickets neccessitated caution from a batting aspect.The Central Stags batted and bowled far better than their opposition and thoroughly deserved their victory over the Otago Volts.

On an increasingly benign wicket, Victoria settled for batting practice today as their match in the Apple Islepetered out to a draw, with the Vics 331 ahead with five wickets in hand when stumps were called.Victoria were never in any threat of outright defeat today as they lost only three of their batsmen today,with Tasmania’s bowlers unable to gain any success in the opening session and thus unable to applyany pressure on their northern neighbours.Mark Ridgway took his last first class wicket in the fifth over after lunch trapping left handed Matthew Mottin front for 86 after over four hours resistance.An hour later, Laurie Harper after a brisk 40, was bowled by a ball from Andrew Downton.Meantime Brad Hodge was quietly closing in on a hundred and seemed set for it andin fact it took part time bowler Michael Divenuto to knock him over a boundary short of the milestone,trapping him in front for 96.Ian Harvey got a good two hours batting practice with an unbeaten 78 as his side look north to a chanceto take the Pura Milk Cup out of odds on favourite Queensland’s hands.Quite appropriately on a day of little other significance, Ridgway who fibbed about his age for acouple of years until someonechecked his driver’s licence one day in the changerooms,bowled his and the match’s last over andwas applauded off the ground as he led his side off the Bellerieve Oval for the last time.

West Ham advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League last night,beating Sevilla 2-0 after extra time thanks to a Tomas Soucek header and a tap-in from perhaps the most popular player in London Stadium right now in Andriy Yarmolenko.

David Moyes’ side had to make do without key attacker Jarrod Bowen, while Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio were fast-tracked back to fitness after picking up knocks at the weekend, and they both put in an excellent shift.

However, perhaps the most impressive performance came from star midfielder Declan Rice, who achieved the joint highest match-rating according to SofaScore with 7.7 alongside his midfield partner Soucek.

The England midfielder said after the match last night: “I said this after the FA Cup win against Leeds, I’ll take anyone and I think the lads will take anyone as well.“There’s no-one to fear. Sevilla were probably the favourites. When the draw came out, people thought we had the hardest draw and we were going to get knocked out… and we’ve knocked them out.“So, look, we can go away anywhere and get a result and teams coming here know they’re in for a game when they step into this stadium with our fans, so I’m ready to take anyone.”The England international completed an impressive 90% of his passes as West Ham controlled the game, looking comfortable in possession after the winning goal went in. Rice was a huge part of that, having also completed three dribbles and being unlucky not to pull off a fourth after fatigue kicked in and the ball trickled out of play uncontested.On top of that, he accurately delivered six of his eight long ball attempts, including a number of excellent cross-field switches to get the wide men involved, and also into Antonio, who bullied Jules Kounde and Nemanja Gudelj all night long.Rice also was excellent on the defensive end of his remit, winning seven of his duels and making three critical interceptions and tackles each, along with one clearance to relieve the danger for the Irons.A reported transfer target for Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea this summer, last night showed that the 23-year-old remains as focused and determined as ever for West Ham, who will surely now believe they can go on to lift the Europa League trophy.In other news: West Ham can repeat Bowen masterclass as Moyes eyes bid for “exceptional” £10m brute

England 87 for 2 (Vaughan 44*) trail New Zealand 470 (Taylor 120, How 92, Vettori 88, Sidebottom 4-90) by 383 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

	Ross Taylor drives on his way to his maiden Test hundred © Getty Images

England ended a rather subdued second day in Hamilton on 87 for 2, still 383 behind New Zealand’s first innings of 470. On a pitch which remains slow and unyielding they appeared to be making sedate progress until two late wickets – admittedly one of them nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard – underlined that they still have plenty to do.The day was dominated by Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori, whose seventh-wicket stand of 148 extended midway into the afternoon. Taylor, whose off-side driving was a delight, completed his maiden Test hundred while Vettori looked set for his until he perished to Paul Collingwood. England might have believed they were in the ascendancy at the start of play, after the in-form Brendon McCullum had been dismissed late on the first day’s play, but Taylor and Vettori beat them back in a stand that occupied half the day.Taylor’s innings was a triumph of the will. He has built his entire international reputation of the strength and speed on his one-day strokeplay, and in two previous Test matches he had returned a highest score of 17. There was nothing frenetic about his approach to this innings, however. At the close of the first day, his colleague Jamie How remarked that he had never seen Taylor play so straight or with such determination, and having batted for almost three hours to reach stumps on 54 not out, there was a certain inevitability about his progress today.Taylor was aided and abetted by a docile pitch and an even more docile attack. Both Ryan Sidebottom, the pick of England’s seamers on the first day, and the off-colour Matthew Hoggard served up wide half-volleys in the opening ten minutes that Taylor slashed gratefully for four, and the left-handed Vettori was also allowed to settle quickly with a pull for four and a punched drive behind point. From 282 for 6 overnight, Taylor brought up the 300 in the fourth over of the day with another thumping drive, as England searched in vain for some inspiration.It didn’t come from Steve Harmison, unsurprisingly. He entered the attack in the 12th over of the morning, but was gloriously square-driven by Taylor as he too overpitched outside off stump. Collingwood was also called into the attack for an early burst, and though he found a genuine edge off Vettori that flew through the vacant second slip for four, both batsmen soon grew accustomed to his lack of venom.Taylor eased into the 90s with a crisply driven half-volley from Collingwood, but was made to wait for his big moment as England finally sensed an opportunity to apply the pressure. Monty Panesar kept him pinned on 98 with a timely maiden, but when Harmison dropped short four balls later, Taylor climbed into a cathartic pull shot, and instantly raised both arms in triumph. His hundred had come from 185 balls with 16 fours, and had taken him a shade over four hours. Vettori congratulated him with an embrace and a handshake, and no doubt a quiet reminder that, with New Zealand still shy of their par total of 400, his real task was still ahead of him.The breakthrough came when Michael Vaughan, almost in desperation after three hours of frustration, threw the ball to Kevin Pietersen. Taylor looked to carve his second ball over midwicket and a top edge was gratefully held by the bowler. Vettori, who until then had unfussily moved towards his own hundred, then fell to another part-time bowler, looking to run a ball angled across him to third man but only succeeding in steering it straight to Andrew Strauss at wide slip. Not much went right for England but their catching could not be faulted.The end came soon after, Sidebottom polishing things off in three balls of a new spell. Jeetan Patel nicked one angled across him to Strauss at slip and then Chris Martin lived up to his reputation as a non batsman by missing a straight one, the only time an England bowler managed to hit the stumps in a day and a half.Vettori would have noted with anticipation the increasingly frequent puffs of dust blowing up from the bone-dry surface. And yet Vaughan and Cook were rarely troubled in an opening stand of 84, although Vettori and Patel did enough to suggest that batting against the twin-spin attack in the fourth innings of the game will be a far tougher proposition.Just as it appeared that England would finish the day with all their wickets intact, Cook contrived to get himself out, miscuing a pull off Martin, and upholding the old adage that one brings two, Hoggard edged to slip in Martin’s next over. That brought in Strauss for a rather fraught couple of overs but he survived.