India v Australia: Women’s Twenty20 World Cup final – live! | Sport

“It shouldn’t feel so revolutionary,” writes JP Howcroft at Guardian HQ. “But it is.” Perfectly put. And consider the implications for the women’s game in India, too. Their World Cup run in 2017 just about got a Women’s Indian Premier League over the line. If they can get the job done tonight, there’s little doubt it’ll happen.

These are going to be iconic MCG images. Perry, now into Firework, is on the middle of a purple stage, in a purple dress with hundreds of young girls in purple outfits dancing in front of her. They’ve truly nailed this. I was at the World Cup Final in Antigua two years ago and they belted out the tournament song before getting on with it. It’s hard not to get swept up in the emotion of this. To think how far women’s cricket has come in just the five years I’ve been covering it.

Billy Jean-King is on fronting a montage on the telly. “We are women,” she declares… and out walks Katy Perry, flanked by a group of backup dancers dressed as cricket bats. She begins with Roar. This is so good.

“I’m a little bit emotional,” says Alyssa Healy on the TV coverage. “To see all these people celebrating International Women’s Day is very special.” There’s something special too about being underneath the MCG knowing there are the better part of 100,000 people up above you ready to watch. You often hear footballers reflect on that when playing Grand Finals at the ground. The difference there is that those players are conditioned to playing in front of tens of thousands of people every week. That’s not the case in this occasion; this is radically different to the norm.

“You need to use it,” says Lisa Sthalekar about the gigantic crowd. “If you feel that pressure it shows you can. But you have to try and find a way to stay calm.”

Of course, as Anjum Chopra adds, India did play in the Lord’s World Cup Final in 2017. I was there that day (on the OBO, as it happens) and it is reflected upon often what a landmark day it was. The women in blue did not hold their nerve on that occasion, losing six wickets in a hurry to fall just short. Can they draw on that experience today? Has Harmanpreet saved her magical best for tonight?

Interesting call batting first. Meg Lanning elected to bowl when India knocked them off in the opening game of this tournament. Then, it was Poonam Yadav ripping the home side apart, the 4’11” leggie claiming four scalps. Well, the home side won’t experience a nervous chase tonight, instead backing their batters to mount a big enough tally on a flat track to later squeeze their less experienced opponents with the ball when the flootlights take over. Makes sense to me.

India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Jess Jonassen, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Delissa Kimmince, Megan Schutt.

Harmanpreet Kaur says her mum is in the stands. It is the Indian captain’s birthday today, turning 31. She debuted at the inaugual edition of this tournament back in 2009 and tonight leads her side to a second global final in three year.

They are unchanged from their semi-final win. “We are as ready as we can be. We are going to have to play our best game.” She can’t believe the crowd.

Who will hold their nerve on this enormous stage? We aren’t far away from the toss, brought forward by ten minutes for the Katy Perry pre-game show.

The previous World Record is 90,185. That’s the mark for the biggest women’s sporting event of all time, from the football World Cup Final of 1999 in California. Don’t doubt the determination of Melbourne’s sporting public to top that tonight. And if you’re at home wondering if there is still room there is. Additional standing room tickets were released today. Part of what makes the MCG so special are the standing room bays, so don’t let that dissuade you. I’m experiencing some pretty fierce FOMO from the other side of the world, make no mistake. If you are in the ‘G, drop me a line and tell me what you’ve seen on the way in. Tell us your story.