IN the week that Chris Gayle hit 100 off 30 balls in the Indian Premier League, Ley Hill opener Craig Peterson did a pretty good imitation of the big hitting West Indian.
Playing against Chenies & Latimer in a warm-up match on Sunday, the 22-year-old, right, smeared 12 sixes and 29 fours to finish unbeaten on 227 from just 111 balls, setting a new club record in the process.
He said: “The scorer said I got to 100 off 61 balls, after that I just thought I’d go for it and see how many I could get. When I got to 120, that’s when I went ballistic.
“I did feel quite bad for the bowlers, but one of their fielders knew I was going for the club record and was telling me to be careful and not get out.”
Incredibly, Peterson wasn’t always certain exactly what score he was on.
He said: “I had no idea what score I was on. We’ve got a scoreboard but it only shows the team score, not the individual scores. I did have an idea I was near 200 though.”
The previous record was 207 set by Lewis last year, while Peterson’s best had been 126, also set last season.
He said: “Lewis got 207 last season and that was pretty amazing. I never thought I’d get anything like that.”
After reaching his double ton, Peterson steamed past the record with a four and a six. He was expecting the innings to be declared then, but Ley Hill batted out the final two overs to give him a little more time to embellish his innings.
He said: “My family were in and out and saw some of it, but I think everyone was shocked afterwards.”
With Jon Lown finishing unbeaten on 109 at the other end, Ley Hill finished their 40 overs on a staggering score of 356-0.
Peterson said: “Everyone was saying I should retire now, there is no point carrying on after that, but now I want to get the most runs in a season.”
That is 1,350, and Peterson is well on the way already.
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