Chadwick Walton set a new record for the highest score in Caribbean T20, but ended up on the losing end as Guyana beat Combined Campuses and Colleges in a thrilling finish on Monday night.
The Jamaican-born opener plundered 99 not out off just 64 balls as CCC rallied to 159-3 off 20 overs at the Queen's Park Oval. He blasted four huge sixes in the last over off Veerasammy Permaul–which cost a whopping 28 runs.
However, it was the running between the wickets during his second-wicket partnership of 58 with skipper Kyle Corbin which gave the innings real momentum before the flurry of boundaries at the end.
Walton's score bettered the previous tournament highest of 89 by Danza Hyatt of Jamaica against Barbados at the same venue in July, 2010. But, by the end of the night, Walton was heartbroken as Guyana made 160-8 to win off the last ball. Left-arm seamer Ramon Reifer took the third hat-trick in the tournament's history and first for CCC, but he was topped by a match-winning 57 off 40 balls from Narsingh Deonarine.
"Is there anything to feel good about?" Walton asked after he collected his Man-of-the-Match award. "Cricket is a team game and even though I set a new record and got this award, it still hurts that the team lost. I guess a few guys lost their nerve there at the end and things slipped out of our hands. We let the match slip away from us."
"Every batsman loves to reach three figures, but I really didn't mind the fact that I didn't get the hundred. I felt I played really well for the team and put us in a winning position. On another day it might have been a match-winning knock...this game can change so quickly," added the 27-year-old wicket-keeper.
