Romario Shepherd's Hat-Trick Powers West Indies to Victory Over Scotland in T20 World Cup Opener

Kolkata. West Indies bowler Romario Shepherd created a stir by taking a hat-trick on the very first day of the T20 World Cup. With the help of his excellent bowling, West Indies defeated Scotland by a large margin of 35 runs.

Batting first after losing the toss at Kolkata's Eden Gardens Stadium, West Indies scored 182 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs. Chasing a target of 183, Scotland was all out for 147 runs in 18.5 overs.

Shepherd took a total of 5 wickets, including the hat-trick. He completed the hat-trick in the 17th over by consecutively dismissing Michael Leask (zero), Matthew Cross (11 runs), and Oliver Davidson (zero). He then sent Safyaan Sharif (zero) back to the pavilion on the sixth ball of the same over.

Earlier, in the powerplay, he dismissed Brandon McMullen when he was on 14 runs.

Earlier in West Indies' batting, Shimron Hetmyer played an explosive innings of 64 runs off 36 balls. Opener Brandon King also made a significant contribution of 35 runs.

In the tournament which started today, Pakistan had secured a thrilling three-wicket victory over the Netherlands in the first match.