The purple patch continues for West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd who has been in stellar all-round form over the last 12-18 months, both in international cricket and across franchise T20 leagues. Shepherd's improved ball-striking skills and game awareness with the bat has added an extra dimension to his skill set, given that he has always been a solid option with the ball.
On Saturday (February 7), Shepherd unlocked another golden achievement by picking up his second T20I hat-trick, first in a T20 World Cup match, during West Indies' 30-run win against Scotland in Kolkata. Shepherd became the first West Indian and tenth overall to pick up a hat-trick in T20 World Cup history.
Shepherd achieved the milestone in the 17th over of the Scotland innings. The first of those wickets was of Matt Cross who chipped a widish slower ball straight to backward point. Then, Michael Leask miscued a slog off the very next ball to find Rovman Powell at long-on. The hat-trick was sealed when a sharp fullish nip-backer was too good for Scotland's Oliver Davidson.
That over ended with yet another scalp, making it a four-wicket over for Shepherd who ended with figures of 5-20 off his three overs. The West Indian joined the likes of Lasith Malinga, Pat Cummins and Tim Southee as the only bowlers to have recorded multiple hat-tricks in the shortest format.
List of players with T20 World Cup hat-tricks
Brett Lee (vs Bangladesh, Cape Town 2007)
Curtis Campher (vs Netherlands, Abu Dhabi 2021)
Wanindu Hasaranga (vs South Africa Sharjah 2021)
Kagiso Rabada (vs England, Sharjah 2021)
Karthik Meiyappan (vs SL, Geelong 2022)
Josh Little (vs New Zealand, Adelaide 2022)
Pat Cummins (vs Bangladesh, North Sound 2024)
Pat Cummins (vs Afghanistan Arnos Vale 2024)
Chris Jordan (vs USA, Bridgetown 2024)
Romario Shepherd (vs Scotland, Kolkata 2026)
List of players with multiple T20I hat-tricks
Lasith Malinga
Pat Cummins
Tim Southee
Romario Shepherd