Winfield hails ‘best ever’ World Cup

England batter Lauren Winfield has declared the T20 World Cup to have the highest standard of play that women’s cricket has seen, as her team prepared for their must-win match today against Pakistan here.

Pakistan beat 2016 champions West Indies in clinical fashion on Wednesday, while Sri Lanka came close to defeating Australia after thrashing England in a warm-up match. England also lost their opening match to less-fancied South Africa.

“There are so many teams now that are on the rise, anybody can win it on their day. And in T20 cricket, it only takes one person to stand up and they can win you the game single-handedly,” said Winfield.

“A lot of the talk before the competition was that it was going to be the best ever, with so many teams in the running. But I think that the way that Sri Lanka have played, the way that Pakistan have played yesterday, it’s not just the teams that you expected to be at the top and amongst it.”

The unexpected results mean that at least three teams in each group are well in the hunt for a semi-final spot.

England’s first victory in Group B came over Thailand on Wednesday, something Winfield said was a special experience against an emerging team in its first major tournament.

“I got goosebumps actually,” she said. “Without wanting to sound patronising, it just makes you think – the smiles on their faces and the pride in playing the game and representing their country is something that we often lose sight of. But it makes you remember that this is why we play the game.”