The West Indies romped to a 35-run win over Scotland at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to open their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign in strong fashion on Saturday, as the Windies registered a total of 182/5 riding on Shimron Hetmyer’s 64-run knock off just 34 deliveries before bundling the Scotsmen out for 147 as Romario Shepherd picked up a five-fer, including a hat-trick.
Scotland captain Richie Berrington won the coin toss and opted to field first against the Windies as the Caribbean Kings’ openes Shai Hope ad Bradong King put up a 54-run stand for the first wicket before the duo fell in quick succession.
Hetmyer took the game by the scruff with his quickfire knock that kept the scoreboard ticking. The Windies also had sizeable contributions from
Sherfane Rutherford and Rovman Powell as the two-time champions set Scotland a target of 183 to win.
Scotland who began the chase with Michael Jones and Musey, lost the wicket of the former cheaply for just a single run to Jason Holder, before Brandon McMullen was removed by Romario Shepherd for 14 off 12 deliveries.
Munsey, who had added 19 off 15 couldn’t believe his fate as Hetmyer pulled off the astounding catch in the deep to bring the opener’s innings to an end.
Skipper Richard Berrington added 42 runs before falling to Holder, while Tom Bruce chipped in with 35 runs before Gudakesh Motie trapped him in front of the wicket.
Shepherd returned to haunt Scotland as he removed Matthew Cross, Michael Leask and Oliver Davidson on the trot to claim his hattrick, before closing out his spell with the dismissal of Safyaan Sharif to complete his five-wicket haul. Holder, who breached te 100-wicket mark in T20s for West Indies closed out the game with the wicket of Mark Watt to bowl Scotland out in 18.5 overs and complete a 35-run win.
