Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive half-century carried West Indies to respectability and ultimately victory after a sluggish start to their T20 World Cup opener against Scotland, iced by Romario Shepherd’s stunning five-wicket haul which included a hat-trick.
Head Coach Darren Sammy’s master plan to use Hetmyer’s experience and power up the order at No. 3 continues to pay off. In his three most recent innings in the position, Hemyer had scored 75 and 48 not out against South Africa in the lead-up to this tournament and he saved his most important knock for the big stage.
Smothered by Scotland’s spinners, West Indies had managed just 33 runs in the Powerplay. But Hetmyer negated a slow pitch to lift his side from 58 for 2 in the 10th over to set Scotland a target of 183 with his 64 off 36 balls, 44 of those runs coming in boundaries.
Handy cameos from Rovman Powell, who shared an 81-run stand with Hetmyer for the third wicket off just 37 balls, and Sherfane Rutherford helped push West Indies’ total up. Their dismissals amid some tight bowling at the death by Brad Currie limited the damage for Scotland.
Hetmyer couldn’t steer clear of the action, his brilliant catch reducing Scotland to 37 for 3. But it was Shepherd’s five-for, which included four wickets in five balls in the 17th over that stole the limelight in Scotland’s run chase as the tournament’s late ring-ins fell short.
Just a fortnight after being called into the World Cup as replacements for Bangladesh, Scotland skipper Richie Berrington and New Zealand recruit Tom Bruce produced a 78-run union for the fourth wicket. With them out of the way though, Shepherd tore through the remainder of the line-up as West Indies launched their campaign in style. (ESPNcricinfo)
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