The headline may cause some confusion. How could Scotland lose in Bangladesh’s match? The answer lies in the circumstances: Bangladesh did not participate in the T20 World Cup, which started on Saturday, due to security concerns. Scotland was included in Group C in place of Bangladesh and faced the West Indies at Eden Gardens.
The match began with West Indies batting first, posting a total of 180 runs. Despite a strong opening stand of 54, Shai Hope and Brendon King fell early. Shimran Hetmyer’s 64 off 36 balls, featuring six sixes and two fours, anchored the innings, with contributions from Rovman Powell (24 off 14 balls) and Sherfane Rutherford (26 off 13 balls) taking West Indies to a competitive total.
Chasing 183, Scotland initially lost four wickets for just 37 runs. Richie Berrington and Tom Bruce then forged a 78-run partnership, which was eventually broken by Jason Holder. In the 17th over, Shepherd delivered a performance for the ages. He dismissed Matthew Cross, Michael Lisk, and Oliver Davidson on consecutive deliveries to record his second career T20 hat-trick and first World Cup hat-trick. On the final ball of the over, Safyaan Sharif fell, giving Shepherd his first five-wicket haul in international cricket at the age of 31.
This remarkable achievement marked the tenth hat-trick in T20 World Cup history and the first by a West Indies player. In this edition, West Indies have now produced three hat-tricks: two by Shepherd and one by Shamar Springer. Shepherd’s first T20 World Cup hat-trick came on 31 October against Bangladesh in Chattogram, while Springer’s hat-trick came last month against Afghanistan in Dubai.
Across his 75-match T20 career for the West Indies, Shepherd’s previous best bowling figures were four wickets for 41 runs against India in August 2023 at Lodderhill, Florida. Despite West Indies winning by 35 runs, Shimran Hetmyer was named player of the match for his impactful innings.
