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KOLKATA: Romario Shepherd took a hat-trick-laden five-wicket haul to seal a 35-run victory for West Indies over Scotland in their second fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Set a stiff 183, Scotland were bowled out for 147 in 18.5 overs.
After losing 37-3 in 5.4 overs, skipper Richie Berrington joined hands with Tom Bruce, adding a 78-run partnership from 47 deliveries to put the chase back on track.
The pair brought the total to 115 in 13.2 overs before Jason Holder dismissed Berrington to give West Indies an opening.
The skipper top-scored with 42 off 24 with the help of two sixes and three fours.
Following the wicket, Scotland slumped to 122-5 and then 133-8 in 16.4 overs, putting West Indies in a dominant position.
The architect of the lower-order collapse was Shepherd, who picked up four wickets in the 16th over.
The right arm pacer first removed Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, and Oliver Davidson on the second, third, and fourth deliveries of the over to bag a hat-trick.
He then closed out the over with Safyaan Sharif’s wicket to leave Scotland in disarray.
Consequently, Scotland fell 35 runs short of the target, handing the 2016 champions a solid start to their campaign.
For West Indies, besides Shepherd, Jason Holder, who started the proceedings, took three wickets to his name and added his name to the bowling chart.
Earlier, after being put into bat first, West Indies racked up 182-5 in their 20 overs.
West Indies had a cautious start with 54 on the board without a wicket in 8.2 overs.
However, Scotland’s bowlers reaped high rewards for keeping it tight in the early overs. They got two wickets in quick succession to reduce West Indies for 58-2 in 9.2 overs.
Brandon King made a sluggish 35 off 30 balls, striking four boundaries and a six. On the other hand, Hope managed 19 from 22 with the help of two fours.
With two wickets, in came Shimron Hetmyer, who turned things around with his record-breaking 22-ball half-century. The left-hander smashed the fastest fifty for the West Indies in the World Cup and powered his side into a dominant position.
He eventually departed after scoring 64 off 36, smashing half a dozen sixes and two fours. At this stage, West Indies were in a commanding position with the score at 175-4 in 19 overs.
In the last two overs, Scotland bowled tight overs to hold things back with Brad Currie returning as the most successful bowler for them with two scalps to his name.
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