West Indies vs Scotland, 2nd Match, Group C, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

So that ends things here. Do catch up on India v USA which is starting in seconds. See you there. Bye bye for now.

Shai Hope | West Indies captain: Yeah, you just hit the nail on the head there. There's no margin for error in these tournaments. It's not like a bilateral series where you've got another game to get back into the series if you come out on the losing end, but a good start is what we're after. (on their score) We felt as though we probably could have got a little bit more, especially here in Eden Gardens. It's a chasing ground. I think the par score is like 190 or something. So it was a bit challenging to start. It was just great to see the guys came back in the middle overs and showed what the power that we possess. And again with the ball, just putting our hands up this time around and getting the win. (on Hetmyer) Yeah, for sure. He's been playing really well. I think this is his fourth consecutive 40-plus score. So he's hitting form at the right time, as they call it. It's good to see him playing freely, playing his way and scoring runs and performing for the team. Happy to see him back and fun. (thinking behind Hetmyer at 3?) The reality is we had a very destructive left-hander at number three last time. Just, I wouldn't call it necessarily like for like, but very close. They're very dangerous players, both of them. We just wanted someone to take that responsibility at the top. Especially being a left-hander, a lot of these teams tend to have a left-arm spinner or a leggie whether in the powerplay or just outside. So it's good to have him there and he's a very good player against the spin as well. So having him there makes it a lot more dangerous for us as a batting lineup. (on Hetmyer's catch) Yeah he's a game-changer, he's one of those guys that can impact the game in any way. He's a good fielder and good to see him getting around and enjoying his cricket. (on Romario) Very surprising there to be fair. Good impact again. Put his hand up when we needed the most. They really got a nice start there, I thought in the middle overs, they were going pretty nicely, the wicket got a lot better to bat on. And just coming in there, taking those crucial wickets. Then putting some pressure back on their batting lineup. And Sheppy thinks it's his second hat-trick in T20Is. So great for him and good to see him going well with the ball as well.

Richie Berrington | Scotland captain: Yeah absolutely. Obviously we are disappointed with how that has finished up. After that first innings we were really confident that we could come out and chase that score down, especially with the depth we have got in our batting. So yeah disappointed not to quite get there in the end but definitely a lot of positives to take out of that. (why did you decide to chase?) Yeah, look, I think as a team, we've got that belief now that we can do it both ways. I think before, maybe the mindset was, it was always a good option to bat first and get a score on the board. But the belief in this team, we know playing on the world stage, we have to be comfortable chasing or setting a score. (on Hetmyer) Yeah, he certainly is. I thought the first 10 overs, they were excellent in that first innings with the ball. And obviously his innings just changed the momentum a little bit to push them up to that 180 score. (evaluating their fielding and bowling) Yeah, I thought it was really good, to be honest. Our mindset was really positive coming into this game. We sort of embraced how we've got here and the prep we've had. I think everyone was ready to go and up for the challenge today. So as I said, there's a lot of really good stuff, especially with the ball in that first innings. And as I said, we were very comfortable that we could chase that score down. (turning point of the game?) Yeah, I think that's probably what changed things in that game. I think after the first 10, 12 overs, we got ourselves in a really strong position there. Probably just losing two set batsmen within a couple of overs just swung the momentum back West Indies' way. And we didn't quite manage to find a way back into the game after that. (on them playing three games here) Yeah, look, it's obviously been great to get a feel for the conditions here. Today was our first game at Eden Gardens. So I'd say there's definitely a lot of positives we can take from today. And we need to take that into our next game in a couple of days' time.

Shimron Hetmyer | Player of the Match: Honestly, I'd say the catch to be fair (on which gave him more pleasure, the batting or the catch?). I've been doing quite some work on my fielding for the past while and I haven't really got an opportunity to take any catches, especially in the last series that we played. So I'm happy to be able to contribute in that win. (was it his best-ever catch?) I don't think so. But it's up there. (on the delay reaching India) I guess everything happens for a reason like my wife said, I'm not really complaining. Thanks to the almighty for giving me the strength and helping me to get here. From there, I guess when I got here, it was just to focus in and just to put that behind and just to make sure that when I come out here today, to just focus on the game ahead and focus on my batting and making sure that I give the bowlers either a good chance or a good score or chase it down. It's fun (to bat at 3), it's something that I used to do in the beginning, but I guess playing more T20s, I guess finishing also is fun for me. But if I have to choose, I'll stay up top. I guess it's just about mindset (on batting at 3), really, batting at three, the ball just moves just a little bit more and it comes on to you a little bit faster than when you're batting at five and six. So it's just for you to get into position as early as possible and just execute, basically. (on Shepherd) That was phenomenal. I actually thought he was going to get this, to be fair (on the PoTM award). I told Carlos that just now. You don't often you see a guy get five and a hat-trick as well. But I'm excited for him. He's really been working hard on his bowling and I'm really, really proud of him and happy. I think we could be more than competitive really (on West Indies's chances). We have the potential to actually go as far as the finals, but it's just for us to take it one game at a time and not think too far ahead and to make sure that when we're on the field, we execute our plans as best as we possibly can.

Stats by Roshan Gede

Scotland run-chase
Overs 1-6: 38/3 at 6.33 RPO
Overs 7-15: 87/2 at 9.66 RPO
Overs 16-18.5: 22/5 at 5.73 RPO

T20I hattricks for WI
Jason Holder vs ENG, Bridgetown, 2022
Romario Shepherd vs BAN, Chattogram, 2025
Shamar Springer vs AFG, Dubai, 2026
Romario Shepherd vs SCOT, Kolkata, 2026

5-fers for WI in T20 WC
5/11 - Akeal Hosein vs Uganda, Providence 2024
5/20 - Romario Shepherd vs Scotland, Kolkata, 2026

T20 WC hattricks
Brett Lee vs BAN, Cape Town, 2007
Curtis Campher vs NED, Abu Dhabi, 2021 (4 in 4)
Wanindu Hasaranga vs SA, Sharjah, 2021
Kagiso Rabada vs ENG, Sharjah, 2021
Karthik Meiyappan vs SL, Geelong, 2022
Josh Little vs NZ, Adelaide, 2022
Pat Cummins vs BAN, North Sound, 2024
Pat Cummins vs AFG, Arnos Vale, 2024
Chris Jordan vs USA, Bridgetown, 2024
Romario Shepherd vs SCOT, Kolkata, 2026

Bowlers with two T20I hattricks (FM teams)
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
Tim Southee (New Zealand)
Pat Cummins (Australia)
Romario Shepherd (West Indies)

18:35 Local Time, 13:05 GMT, 18:35 IST: West Indies begin their campaign with a win. It's a day for the Guyanese as Hetmyer and Shepherd were the stars. The latter walks off ball-raised to the cameras. A T20I World Cup hat-trick and a fifer. Whereas Hetmyer set it up with the bat with a superb aggressive knock and that worldie of a catch to get Munsey. Scotland were looking dangerous when Berrington and Bruce were there. Bruce took his time to get his eye in and was helped by a free-hit which he hit for four. The Scotland skipper, Berrington was aggressive and hit the ball so well. 69 were required off 42 and it looked like Scotland were well in it. Holder though got Berrington and then from 115/4, Scotland just wilted. A hat-trick for Shepherd followed and the end came pretty soon after. Scotland would be disappointed as the pitch was good for batting and the total was not a massive one. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff...

Jason Holder to Mark Watt, THATS OUT!! Caught!!