West Indies right-arm pacer Romario Shepherd created history during the second game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, as he took a hat-trick against Scotland in their tournament opener in the Group C match of the competition.
After Scotland chose to field first at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday (7 February), on the opening day of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, West Indies scored 182/5 in 20 overs. The no.3 batter Shimron Hetmyer slammed 64 off just 36 balls with two fours and six sixes. It was the first half-century in the tournament.
In reply, Scotland had some fightback, but they were all out for only 147 runs in 18.5 overs, as the two-time champions West Indies won their tournament opener by 35 runs. Caribbean pacer Romario Shepherd claimed a fifer, as the right-arm pacer finished the game with the bowling figures of 3-0-20-5, including a hat-trick and four wickets in an over.
It was the 17th over, when Scotland needed 51 runs from 24 balls with five wickets in hand. On the second, third, and fourth balls of that over, Romario dismissed Matthew Cross (11), Michael Leask (0), and Oliver Davidson (0) to record his hat-trick. While the fifth ball of that over was a dot ball, Romario took the wicket of Safyaan Sharif (0) on the final ball of that over, to complete that over with four wickets for only one run.
West Indies bowler: 1st hat-trick in T20 World Cup
It was the first hat-trick by any West Indies bowler in the history of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Romario Shepherd 2nd T20I hat-trick
It was the second T20I hat-trick for Romario Shepherd, as he became the first Caribbean bowler to record multiple T20I hat-tricks. His first T20I hat-trick was against Bangladesh at Chittagong in October 2025. Overall, he became the eighth bowler to record two T20I hat-tricks.
West Indies bowler: with 4th T20I hat-trick
It was the fourth time that a West Indies bowler recorded a T20I hat-trick. Apart from Romario Shepherd’s two T20I hat-tricks, counting two out of four T20I hat-tricks by a West Indies bowler, the other two names are Jason Holder (against England at Bridgetown in 2022) and Shamar Springer (against Afghanistan at Dubai in 2026).
2nd best T20 World Cup bowling figures by West Indies bowler
Romario Shepherd’s 3-0-20-5 bowling figures were the second-best bowling figures by a West Indies bowler in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history. The record is 4-0-11-4 by Akeal Hossein against Uganda in the 2024 edition. Meanwhile, Romario recorded the fourth-best T20I bowling figures by a West Indies bowler.
