India vs Australia, Commonwealth Games 2022 highlights: IND win silver in first ever CWG cricket final, lose by 9 runs

162 is the target India need to chase down to win a gold medal. That was some innings from Australia, in the face of a relentless Indian fielding effort. They kept losing wickets but somehow didn't lose track of their run rate. It is exactly what India will need to do to win this.

Direct hit by Mandhana at the bowler's end and and Jonassen is well short despite putting in a dive. 

Australia start the over at 156/7. India need to have an extra fielder inside the ring because of their slow over rate. Wonder how much that will hurt them.

Another wicket falls, this time it is Alana King who hits it straight to Meghna Singh at mid-wicket. 

King c Meghna Singh b Yadav 1 (5), Australia 150/7 in 18.3 overs 

Where did she pluck that out from! That has to be the catch of the tournament, even catch of the year. She backtracks from mid-on, has the sun to deal with and all those interrupting shadows and it looks like she might miss it. But, well, what do we know, she just sticks out her right hand and the ball nestles into it as if that was exactly where it was intending to go. She falls down, keeps the ball in her hands and then accepts the hugs coming her way from her team mates. It would have taken something superhuman to beat the brilliant Beth Mooney today and superhuman is exactly what that catch was. 

Mooney c Sharma b Rana 61 (41), Australia 142/6 in 17.2 overs

Grace Harris sends the ball deep into the bright blue Birmingham sky. Meghna Singh has to run back and she is still running when she catches the ball. Does well there, India have been brilliant in the field today. 

Grace Harris c Meghna Singh b Renuka Singh 2 (4), Australia 133/5 in 16.2 overs

That is exactly what the doctor ordered for India. Rana deceives Gardner with a flighted delivery outside off. Gardner goes for the big mow but misses it completely. Bhatia collects and whips off the bails in no time. 

Gardner st Bhatia b Rana 25 (15), Australia 125/4 in 15.1 overs

For all the efforts that India have put in, Australia remain in a ridiculously strong position and that is largely because this partnership has got off to a flier. Gardner and Mooney have put up 38 off 24 balls. 

Sheer power from Gardner. Radha floats it outside off and Gardner just skips down the track and sends it sailing past the boundary. 

Pooja Vastrakar has saved a couple of fours while Deepti Sharma did the same again. Radha Yadav almost dismissed Ashleigh Gardner with a direct hit. Australia 114/3 in 13 overs

And now Radha Yadav takes a stunner to dismiss another one of Australia's best batters. Length ball outside off from Deepti Sharma, McGrath goes for the cut but can't keep it down. It goes to Radha's left and she puts in a full-stretch dive with both hands out. Brilliant catch. 

Tahlia McGrath c Yadav b Sharma 2 (4), Australia 87/3 in 11.1 overs

Meg Lanning has to walk after a brilliant bit of fielding from Radha Yadav, what a way to dismiss one of Australia's best batters. Mooney hits it straight back to Radha who collects the ball and flicks it between her legs to the non-striker's stumps. Lanning had backed up too far and replays show that she landed the bat a millisecond after Yadav's throw hit the stumps. 

Lanning run out (Yadav) 36 (26), Australia 83/2 in 10.1 overs

Two boundaries from the over, one for Lanning and one for Mooney. The partnership between the two is into the 60s now and India in desperate need of a wicket here. Australia 66/1 after 9 overs 

Well this is quite extraordinary. Australia's Tahlia McGrath has tested positive for Covid-19 but has been allowed to play. She is sitting away from the rest of her team mates with her mask on. It was this issue that delayed the toss, with Australia having apparently got the permission from the powers that be and from the Indian team themselves. 

Sneh Rana sends the third ball in full, Mooney comes down the track and lofts it over the bowler's head. Both mid-on and mid-off are inside the circle so it lands safely and goes for four. 

It seems the ball has bounced right into side of Taniya Bhatia's helmet. It kicked up off a length and Lanning missed it, took Bhatia's helmet and went to the boundary behind. Umpire calls four byes and the physio is out to take a look at Bhatia. Australia 43/1 after the powerplay. 

Oh what a shot that is. Length delivery that Lanning just clubs over the bowler's head for the first maximum of this final. 

There seems to be a huge chink of the crowd coming in now. The stadium is filling up gradually and the game is also taking its own time to unfold. For now though, India can be happy of the fact that they have not allowed Alyssa Healy to go berzerk. 

Lanning gets an edge that flies just fine of slip and that runs to the boundary off the second last ball of the first over. Steady does it for Australia, no wickets lost to Renuka in the first over this time. 

CRASH! BOOM! Lights and fire as the firecrackers go off to welcome the two sides on to the field. A slight haze left on a part of the field because of that, wonder if all that was a bit too much. Anyhow, here is Renuka Singh, who took the Australian top order apart the last time these two teams faced each other in these Games. Alyssa Healy on strike and Beth Mooney is at the other end. 

A tingle down the spines as the natiknal anthems of both teams boom out at Edgbaston. This is it, can India live the dream, or settle for a silver which won't be a disgrace by any stretch of imagination either. They have had a good tournament and they are probably the only team that Australia know can beat them on their day. 

Among all the Aussie batting stars who will be on display today, Alyssa Healy is the one who has been silent the most but she is the one that Veda Krishnamurthy is speaking about with foreboding the most in the Sony studios. Healy has had a dismal tournament so far, scoring just 41 runs five matches but she is known to play some blinders in the final. “I was standing like a fan at the boundary, really hope she doesn't fire today,” she says, recalling Healy's extraordinary 75 off 39 balls during the 2020 T20 World Cup final. Australia ended up winning that match by 85 runs. 

Alyssa Healy (wicketkeeper), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (captain), Tahlia McGrath, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(captain), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Radha Yadav, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh