KOLKATA (Kashmir English): West Indies defeated Scotland by 35 runs as their pace bowler Romario Shepherd took the first hat-trick of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in their Group C opener in Kolkata on Saturday.
Batting first, West Indies scored 182 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. The team’s performance was based on Shimron Hetmyer’s brilliant batting, who played a fiery innings of 64 runs to take the team to a strong score. Other batters also helped the team and made an acceptable total in the allotted overs.
Chasing a target of 183 runs, the Scotland team was all out for 147 runs in the 19th over. West Indies bowlers performed well, especially Romario Shepherd who took 5 wickets for 20 runs. He took 4 wickets in the 17th over, which included a hat-trick.
Scotland’s inclusion in the World Cup
It is worth noting that Scotland was included in the T20 World Cup 2026 because Bangladesh was expelled from the event for not touring India.
This inclusion provided Scotland with an opportunity in the global event, but West Indies’ strong performance seemed to have shattered their dream.
After the victory, West Indies position in the group has strengthened and the team’s morale has also increased, while the Scotland team will now be forced to perform better in their upcoming matches.
