Birmingham 2022 officials have stated that more than 150,000 tickets have been sold for the cricket, an increase on the 136,549 purchased for the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.

"I would like all the fans to come out in big numbers in all our matches because that is definitely going to motivate the whole team, it is something really special," Rana said after India's eight-wicket victory over Pakistan.

"In the last few years we have had a considerable amount of support from our fans.

"Wherever we play we have got a good support definitely and all the players enjoy it when we play in front of a big crowd."

Australian captain Meg Lanning saw her side home to a nine-wicket victory over Barbados to become the first side to qualify for the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games tournament.

"We are feeling privileged to be a part of it," Lanning said.

"To see everybody coming and watching the games and creating a great atmosphere that is something that is really exciting.

"It just shows how much the sport's growing when you are coming into this event, it has the potential to reach a new audience," Lanning insisted.

Australia are the world champions and their match versus Barbados took place at the same time as England were playing against Germany in the final of women's football's European Championship at Wembley in London.

Organisers had made free tickets for the Australia-Barbados match available to local residents and announced that spectators at the earlier India-Pakistan game were also invited to receive a complimentary ticket.

A number of Australian athletes from other sports came to Edgbaston to cheer on their compatriots.

"The atmosphere in the packed stadium today has been electric and hundreds of millions of fans around the world will have been tuned in to watch this great sporting rivalry," International Cricket Council chief executive Geoff Allardice said after the India versus Pakistan match had attracted the largest individual crowd of the Birmingham 2022 tournament so far.