West Indies are set to open their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Scotland at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday, February 7. Pakistan and Netherlands kicked off the action-packed opening day of the World Cup, while India and the USA will be in action later in the evening.
Windies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are placed in Group C along with Italy, Nepal and England, apart from the Scottish side. Windies would be missing outon Nicholas Pooran, who had retired from international cricket last year at a young age, but the two-time champions still have plenty of firepower in their ranks, but would be worried over their spin options.
West Indies have very fond memories of Eden Gardens, as this was the venue where they lifted the 2016 T20 World Cup after defeating England in the final. Their then captain, Darren Sammy, is now their coach.
Scotland were a late invitee in the World Cup after Bangladesh were removed due to their refusal to travel to India for the tournament, citing security concerns. They would bring confidence of having defeated the Windies in the 2022 World Cup, with several of their members from that team still present in the current squad. Ahead of the clash, here is the pitch report.
Eden Gardens, Kolkata pitch report
This clash will be an afternoon game in Kolkata, which might help the batters more in the second innings with floodlights on. Batters have usually enjoyed playing at the Eden Gardens strips due to the pace and bounce it offers.
From IPL 2023 onwards, the venue has hosted five afternoon matches, and all of them were high-scoring ones with three tight wins batting first and two easy wins chasing.
Eden Gardens - The Numbers Game
Matches Played - 12
Matches Won Batting First - 5 (38.46%)
Matches Won Batting Second - 7 (53.85%)
Matches Won Winning Toss - 8 (61.54%)
Matches Won Losing Toss - 4 (30.77%)
Highest Team Innings - 201/5 by Pakistan 16/03/2016 vs Bangladesh
Lowest Team Innings - 70 by Bangladesh 26/03/2016 vs New Zealand
Highest Run Chase Achieved - 162/4 by India 16/02/2022 vs West Indies
Average Score Batting First - 142
Squads:
Scotland Squad: Michael Jones, Mark Watt, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington(c), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross(w), Oliver Davidson, Brad Currie, Zainullah Ihsan, Brad Wheal, Safyaan Sharif, Michael Leask, George Munsey, Finlay McCreath, Chris Greaves
West Indies Squad: Brandon King, Shai Hope(w/c), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Matthew Forde, Shamar Joseph, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Jayden Seales
