West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer took the attack to Scotland, taking his team to a competitive total.
The West Indies had an ordinary start in the powerplay of the first innings against Scotland, as they were not let away by some disciplined bowling. But just as Shai Hope fell, in walked Shimron Hetmyer and things began to change for the men from the Caribbean.
Though the first wicket fell with the score being 54, it took the Windies nine overs to get there. By the time Brandon King walked back in the 10th over, the score read a mere 58 – much below the explosive standards of the West Indians.
However, the way Shimron Hetmyer played did have an impact on the scoring rate. The left-handed batter dispatched anything that was pitched full, and the plan paid off. The West Indies No.3 ended up with 64 runs in just 36 deliveries, carrying the score to a respectable 182/5 in 20 overs.
The West Indies had a position with very big shoes to fill, after the retirement of Nicholas Pooran from international cricket. The former left-handed batter was a key figure in the middle-order in white-ball cricket, and Hetmyer has escalated his game wonderfully to meet those expectations.
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In simple words, by scoring heaps of runs consistently. In his last four T20I knocks, Hetmyer has registered two fifties (including the T20 World Cup 2026 opener against Scotland), with the other two scores being 48 (unbeaten once). To add to that, his strike-rate is a lot in-sync with what Nicholas Pooran’s was.
Across 97 innings, Nicholas Pooran scored 2,275 runs with a strike-rate of 136.39. Pooran was known for his ability to take the attack to the opposition, which he used to execute via his terrific bat swing. Having said that, Hetmyer isn’t far away from those qualities as well.
The current West Indies No.3 batter has notched up more than 1,400 runs at a strike-rate of 134.96, which is extremely close to that of his predecessor. What matters even more, is the resemblance in the use of their core while batting. Both Pooran and Hetmyer have showcased excellent rotational strength.
After his recent exploits against Scotland, Hetmyer opened up about the strategy that the West Indians are trying to follow in the tournament. He clearly stated that teams look at the West Indies as a boundary hitting side, and that is exactly where the game is headed.
“Every ball pitched up, you could take a chance and if not just try to limit dot balls, that’s something that we speak about as a group and as a batting unit as well. And because we are a boundary hitting team, everyone knows that, but it’s just the singles and the dot balls where we kind of fall short just a little bit and it’s nice that it came off in our favour today,” said Shimron Hetmyer after his knock.
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