Women’s Cricket World Cup: Australia v India - live

An email from Guy Hornsby has hit my inbox with the subject line Bring it on

Great day for the game, and glad they’re not playing in my fog-bound Manchester. This should be fascinating. I think India are under the greater pressure here, as hosts with all the expectations that come with that. Australia are just so ridiculously talented that it’s hard to see them falling over again like they did against Pakistan, but this world cup seems to have reversed the periods where batting is easier, so it’s really close to call.

I agree Guy, on paper you’d think Australia have got this one under control, but as we all know, cricket games aren’t played on paper. Anything could happen here and let’s hope lots of excitement does!

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Preamble

Megan Maurice

Hello and welcome to a huge game in this Cricket World Cup! The as-yet undefeated Australia against tournament hosts India – this has been a highly anticipated clash. While both teams probably should have sailed through fairly well unchallenged so far, it hasn’t been the smoothest start for either team.

While Australia haven’t yet lost a game, a washout against Sri Lanka has proved frustrating for their ladder position. They also suffered a fairly serious batting collapse against Pakistan and if it wasn’t for Beth Mooney – ably assisted by Alana King – they may have been dealt a huge upset defeat.

Meanwhile, India were defeated by South Africa on Thursday, bowled out in the final over for 251, took some early wickets to put themselves back in the game and then watched on in despair as as steady 70 from Laura Wolvaardt and a flamboyant 84 from Nadine de Klerk dragged South Africa over the line. It was a tough blow for India, who would have been expecting the win after seeing South Africa all out for 69 against England in their opening match.

So there is a sense of desperation in this match for both teams. Australia will want to put their batting woes behind them and do everything they can to claw back a position at the top of the ladder after their washout. And India will be pushing for a win to reassert their dominance in front of a home crowd.

Speaking of the crowd, it is apparently a sell out today at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium, so expect some very vocal support when India scores runs or takes a wicket and the kind of silence you didn’t think possible from a crowd of people that large when Australia counters.

It’s sure to be a fascinating match, so let’s get into it!

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