Romario Shepherd hat-trick headlines impressive start for West Indies

It was a game that followed eerily similar patterns across both batting essays - a sedate PowerPlay and a middle-overs acceleration. But Romario Shepherd swung things comprehensively in favor of West Indies with a four-wicket 17th over that included a hat-trick, setting up a 35-run win over Scotland in their T20 World Cup opener at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (February 7).

Scotland were under the pump in pursuit of 183 on a pitch that was largely good to bat on, despite the spinners getting a bit of hold. They lost their way in the PowerPlay with Michael Jones falling cheaply while Brandon McMullen and George Munsey looked to tee off, they fell in quick succession. McMullen trying to get too cheeky, only to play a ramp onto his leg stump while Munsey holed out to a stunning Shimron Hetmyer one-hander at deep square leg, putting Scotland, who were a last-minute inclusion in the tournament, under immense pressure at 37 for 3.

Skipper Richie Berrington was tasked with the recovery act in the company of Tom Bruce, who rode his luck with a couple of dropped chances in what was a largely rusty 35. Berrington upped the ante at the halfway mark with 42 runs coming between overs 11 and 13. A 78-run stand for the fourth wicket was broken by Jason Holder, who became the first West Indian to bag 100 wickets in men's T20Is as he sent Berrington on his way for 42. A string of quiet overs - through the course of which Bruce fell - saw the asking rate shoot up although the game remained in the balance.

That's when Shepherd got into the act, getting Matthew Cross and the dangerous Michael Leask to pick out the boundary riders before castling Oliver Davidson for a duck to complete his hat-trick. The icing on the cake followed with a fourth wicket in the over as he completed a five-wicket haul to completely shut Scotland out of the contest, shortly after which Holder wrapped things up with his third wicket.

It was a very un-West Indian like innings after they were inserted to bat by Richie Berrington as they scored 33 in the PowerPlay. However, it was the middle overs against spin that they dominated, scoring 105 runs from overs 7-15 at a run rate of 11.66 per over. The phase was headlined by Shimron Hetmyer's 22-ball half-century - the fastest by a West Indian in Men's T20 World Cups - as he took a liking to the spinners and the pace of Safyaan Sharif alike.

Earlier, Brandon King and skipper Shai Hope were tied down by some tight bowling and fielding by the Scots, with a host of drives finding the fielders quite often. West Indies scored at just a run-a-ball in the PowerPlay and ironically, it was after that phase that they switched gears as King pulverized Sharif for a six and two fours, injecting some momentum to the innings. That was short-lived, however, as both Hope and King departed in successive overs, the former playing all around a Leask delivery and the latter slashing one to backward point, where Munsey took a smart catch on the second attempt.

At 66 for 2 after ten overs, Hetmyer stepped on the gas, dealing in sixes alone and peeling off five of them before registering his first four. A delectable loft over extra cover off Oliver Davidson brought up his half-century while Rovman Powell duly assisted him, even going as far as turning down a single off the penultimate ball of the 15th over to cash in on a favorable matchup against Leask. He was vindicated as he converted a full toss over mid-wicket for a maximum, though he fell in the very next over to Brad Currie.

Hetmyer continued with his merry ways though with fellow southpaw Sherfane Rutherford peppering the off-side boundary at will himself. 103 runs came off the 11 overs sent down by the spinners and it was soon down to the pacers to close it out for Scotland. For all his woes with the ball, Sharif finally had something to cheer about off his last ball as he dismissed Hetmyer, albeit of a full toss that precariously flirted with the waist line as McMullen pulled off a screamer at wide long-on. Rutherford perished soon after, handing Currie his second wicket with the left-armer using his slower ones to great effect as the last two overs produced just 15 runs.

As it turned out, it went in vain with West Indies' eventual total of 182 proving to be more than sufficient.

Brief Scores: West Indies 182/5 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 64, Brandon King 35, Brad Currie 2-23) beat Scotland 147 all out in 18.5 overs (Richie Berrington 42, Tom Bruce 35, Romario Shepherd 5-20, Jason Holder 3-30) by 35 runs