Romario Shepherd stormed into the record books after bagging a spectacular hat-trick in the third T20I against Bangladesh at Chattogram on October 31. With this, Shepherd became only the second West Indies bowler in T20I history to achieve the feat, following in the footsteps of former captain Jason Holder. Shepherd's heroics were the key factor in a dramatic collapse of the hosts' middle and lower order, completely shattering Bangladesh's hopes of posting a substantial total despite opener Tanzid Hasan's resilient innings.
Romario Shepherd notches historic hat-trick against Bangladesh
Bangladesh had started the match steadily, reaching 40 runs at the end of the powerplay and adding most of their runs during the middle overs, albeit losing three wickets in the process. However, the death overs proved to be disastrous, with Shepherd leading the collapse. He initiated his hat-trick by dismissing Nurul Hasan with the last ball of the 17th over, caught by Rovman Powell at long-on after mistiming a full-length delivery. Returning for the final over of the innings, Shepherd struck immediately, removing the well-set opener Tanzid Hasan, who was caught sharply by Jason Holder at mid-off. The very next delivery, the hat-trick ball, was a stunning peach that clean-bowled Shoriful Islam for a golden duck.
With Bangladesh left reeling at 142 at that stage, Taskin Ahmed managed to scramble a few runs off the last four balls, pushing the total to 151. Other bowlers also contributed to the total, with Jason Holder and Khary Pierre taking four combined wickets, while Akeal Hosein and Roston Chase claimed one each.
West Indies thrash Bangladesh by 5 wickets to pocket sweep series
West Indies ended up winning the match by five wickets to sweep the series 3-0. The West Indies chase began slowly, with the team managing only eight runs off the first three overs, a period that included the early stumping of Alick Athanaze. However, opener Amir Jangoo, who had been dropped in the second over, made Bangladesh pay for the fielding lapse, quickly shifting the momentum by striking Taskin Ahmed for three boundaries and a six in one over. Despite Bangladesh managing to dismiss both Brandon King and Jangoo within a short span, they failed to seize control of the innings. Roston Chase and Keacy Carty then applied themselves effectively to the conditions, consistently finding boundaries to keep the required run rate well within check, even as spinner Mahedi Hasan completed a brilliant spell by the 11th over, having conceded a mere 15 runs.
The pivotal moment arrived a couple of overs later when Keacy Carty decided to target Rishad Hossain, smashing him for three sixes in an over to effectively extinguish Bangladesh's hopes of victory. Adding to the hosts' misery, Carty and Chase then launched an assault on Taskin Ahmed in the subsequent over, both quickly bringing up their respective half-centuries. Although Rishad Hossain managed to dismiss both set batters in the space of three deliveries, the fate of the contest was already sealed. Ultimately, captain Rovman Powell jammed an inswinging yorker from Taskin in the 17th over to secure the winning single, guiding the West Indies across the line.