Australia v West Indies: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 semi-final – live! | Sport

That’s about 25 minutes from now.

Hearing it’ll be at least an hour once the drizzle has definitively stopped before the game will get going. I’ll bring updates as and when they come through. If you’re out there then do get in touch, it’s not like it has been quiet in the cricket world of late? Save me from eating my tenth custard cream of the hour.

It isn’t raining in Wellington but it is grey and misty. There are no floodlights and the light is pretty poor at the moment. It all looks a bit like the backing for a Kate Bush music video. The clouds are bust.

And then there were four. Just.

This Women’s World Cup has had it all – runs, wickets, diving catches, form defying upsets and fingernail gnashing finishes. None more so than the final over, final (no) ball drama that infolded between India and South Africa that decided the semi-final line ups. Indian heartache on the field was met simultaneously by West Indian jubilation off it.

Welcome to the Basin Reserve, Wellington for this first Women’s World Cup Final between yella-hot favourites for the trophy Australia and the maroon, mercurial, sometimes-maddening-but-definitely-capable-of-giant-toppling, West Indies.

Both sides are missing key players for today’s ding-dong in Wellington. The big news is that Ellyse Perry hasn’t had quite enough time to prove her fitness after suffering back spasms – Meg Lanning will be unable to call upon her talismanic all-rounder. All hasn’t been calm in the West Indies camp either, with leg-spinner Afy Fletcher testing positive for the Covid and Mandy Mangru, the 19 year old all-rounder being allowed to take her place as a Covid sub.

All the recent match-ups (including a thumping 7 wicket win for OZ when the sides met earlier in the tournament) suggest it will be the Aussies who secure a place in Sunday’s final. But you just never know. If the tournament has shown us anything so far it is that anything can and just well might happen. Cricket eh?

Jim here with the call, sadly not from Wellington (where there’s a bit of drizzle around) but from a front room in South London (where it’s fine. Y’know, fine.)

I’ll be back with news of the teams and the toss shortly, play gets underway at 11am local time/ 11pm BST and 9am AEDT.