Match overview

West Indies Cricket beat Scotland Cricket by 35 runs in a T20 international at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on 7 February 2026. Batting first after Scotland won the toss and chose to field, West Indies posted 182/5 from their 20 overs. Scotland were never comfortable in the chase and were bowled out for 147, with their innings unravelling from the powerplay onwards. SO Hetmyer was named Player of the Match for his contribution to West Indies' first-innings total. The win gives West Indies a 3-2 lead in the all-time head-to-head, reversing a run of two consecutive defeats to the Scots.

Scotland had gone into the game with some momentum from recent Associate cricket, but the step up to facing West Indies on a subcontinental surface exposed their limitations. Chasing 183 was always going to require a near-perfect start. They did not get one.

Venue and conditions

Eden Gardens is one of cricket's largest and most storied grounds. In T20 cricket, it has hosted 171 matches, producing an average first-innings score of 186. West Indies' 182/5 was marginally below that figure, which meant Scotland entered the chase with a theoretically achievable target given the ground's numbers. The venue's average second-innings score of 170 across those matches tells its own story: sides chasing here do get close, but finishing the job is harder than the powerplay often suggests.

Fielders who win the toss at Eden Gardens tend to choose to bowl: the toss-field rate sits at 58 per cent, and Scotland followed that instinct. The chase success rate is 53 per cent at the ground, so conditions were not heavily stacked against Scotland in principle. In practice, losing 3 wickets for 38 runs inside the first six overs settled the matter before the middle overs began.

The death overs told contrasting stories. West Indies managed 44 runs from their last five overs for 3 wickets, close to the venue average of 38 at that phase. Scotland managed just 22 runs for 5 wickets in their final five overs, by which point the game had long been decided.

How to watch

T20 international cricket featuring West Indies and Scotland is available in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, with live and on-demand streaming through Sky Go and NOW TV. Specific scheduling and commentary details are listed on Sky's sports guide ahead of each match. For ICC-sanctioned tournaments involving either side, BBC Radio's Test Match Special team often provides ball-by-ball audio coverage, which is accessible via BBC Sounds.

Recent form

West Indies came into this match having split a three-game T20I series against South Africa Cricket in 2026, winning once and losing twice. Before that, they had dropped back-to-back games to New Zealand Cricket in 2025. The South Africa loss earlier in 2026 suggested some inconsistency in their batting lineup, though 182/5 here was a solid enough effort against a modest attack.

Scotland's recent form was a patchwork of Associate cricket results. In 2025 they beat Namibia, Canada, and the Netherlands, but lost to Jersey and Italy in between. Those results reflect the competitive but unpredictable nature of Associate T20 cricket, where margins are fine and conditions vary sharply. Moving from that circuit to a full-member opponent at a neutral subcontinental venue was always a significant step, and Scotland's powerplay dismissals showed the gulf in class at the top of the order. Their next fixtures will likely be back in the Associate circuit, where they remain a competitive side.