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

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2nd over: Australia 12-0 (Healy 2, Litchfield 8) Litchfield punches Kranti Gaud sweetly to the cover boundary to get off the mark. Not much swing for Gaud just yet, and Litchfield ends the over by whacking another boundary over mid-off. That was a classy - and, for India, ominously confident - stroke.

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Updated at 05.42 EDT

There was a charming scene before the game when Harmanpreet Kaur invited one of the Indian mascots to address the team in the huddle, a duty the young girl performed with a smile and some demonstrative gestures. I can’t do it justice; I’ll try to the find a video.

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1st over: Australia 3-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 0) Thakur finds some immediate inswing – too much at first, with a couple of leg-side wides giving Australia their first runs. Healy pushes a single into the covers; Litchfield hits the field with a couple of off-side strokes and leaves the last ball of the over. Those two wides aside, a good start from Thakur.

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Folks, it’s time for cricket. The new ball tends to swing in Navi Mumbai and I can’t wait to see the latest chapter in the battle between Kranti Gaud and Alyssa Healy. But it’s Renuka Singh Thakur who will bowl the first over.

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“Morning from a cold Warsaw,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “I came to know today (TIL in the modern lingo) that Ian Healy is an uncle of Alyssa. The batting depth in the Indian line up is amazing but we have to wait and see if the bowlers can give them an easy target to chase.”

Whatever the target, and whether India chase it or not, I can’t see it being easy.

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The teams line up for the anthems. Australia’s players are wearing black armbands in memory of Ben Austin, the young cricketer who died tragically after being hit on the neck while batting in the nets.

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Updated at 05.26 EDT

The pitch is good for batting, according to the TV pundits, though Dinesh Karthik reckons it will turn in the second innings. If only Australia had a decent spinner.

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The destructive Shafali Verma, who only joined India’s World Cup squad a couple of days ago as a replacement for the injured Pratika Rawal, goes straight into the XI. That’s one of three changes for the washout against Bangladesh. Richa Ghosh and Kranti Gaud return as expected; Harleen Deol and Uma Chetry drop out.

Australia make two changes from the XI that hammered South Africa. Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineux replace the Georgias, Voll and Wareham.

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Team news

India Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Radha Yadav, Krani Gaud, Shee Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur.

Australia Alyssa Healy (c/wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Alana King, Megan Schutt.

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Updated at 05.15 EDT

Australia win the toss and bat

Runs on the board in a semi-final and all that. Australia may also be mindful of the 2017 semi-final, when Harmanpreet Kaur stunned them with an amazing 171.

“Looks like great conditions, I don’t know the wicket’s gonna change much so it’s a great opportunity for us to put a score on the board,” says Alyssa Healy. I’m healthy, I’m just getting a little bit old!”

Harmanpreet says India would have batted but that they hope to take advantage of the overcast conditions with the new ball.

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Updated at 05.07 EDT

Healy fit to return for Australia

Australian captain Alyssa Healy, who missed the last two group games through injury, is walking out for the toss with Harmanpreet Kaur.

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Weather watch

There were showers in Navi Mumbai this morning, it says here, with a small chance of more rain later in the day. There’s a reserve day if necessary, so I think we can safely cool our jets where the weather is concerned.

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Updated at 04.58 EDT

Jack Snape

Five of Australia’s all-conquering team set for a showdown against hosts India in the women’s cricket World Cup semi-final on Thursday have surged through the threshold of $1m annual earnings, as the growing financial opportunities in the global game approach and even exceed the value of Cricket Australia contracts.

That group might soon expand too, given an Indian Women’s Premier League “mega auction” is scheduled for November. The Australians – who have won three of the past four world T20 titles and are defending 50-over champions – are set to attract significant interest from the five franchises, each of which have approximately $2.6m to spend for the month-long tournament.

Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh said he expected women’s salaries to continue to grow. “It’s healthy, it can offer more and more players those sorts of opportunities, because that means we’ve got a better chance of securing the best athletes in the country.”

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Updated at 04.57 EDT

Preamble

Opal Fruits aren’t the only thing that make your mouth water. Since time immemorial, World Cups – all sports, not just cricket – have been enriched by one particular fixture: a knockout game between the hosts and the holders.

India v Australia in Navi Mumbai is about as mouthwatering as semi-finals get. India, the hosts, are desperate to win their first World Cup. Australia, the holders, are favourites to win their eighth. Before the tournament, most people thought this would be the final; instead the two teams are fighting for the right to face South Africa on Sunday.

The group game between the sides was a minor classic that produced 661 runs. Tonight’s game could be an epic.

The match starts at 9.30am GMT, 7.30pm AEST, 3pm in Navi Mumbai.

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Updated at 04.52 EDT

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