Martin brings up his 200 with six
HIS heart was in his mouth.
Smashing the ball towards the square-leg boundary, Chris Martin thought he had blown a golden opportunity to register his career-first double century.
“I got dropped on 193 on the fence,” Martin said.
“Then I ran two and hit a six. My heart was in my mouth as it went over the fielder.
“It got there pretty easily in the end, but I didn’t think I got it (sweet enough).”
As the ball sailed over the boundary rope at Corio’s Shell Reserve, his Geelong West teammates erupted.
“They were pretty happy,” said Martin, who struck five sixes and 19 boundaries in the 171-ball inning.
“A lot of our old boys were there and it was great to see them all smiling.”
It was a patient knock from No.4 Martin, who dug in early with Max Brown (22) for a 21-run stand before adding 81 with Kenny Spence (27).
“It took me quite a while to get in . . . about 130 balls (to get 110) and then I picked it up a bit and I kept finding the boundary,” he said.
“It’s a pretty big ground, so I was just trying to push it around. Once we got to a half-decent score I tried to get going.”
The second hundred came swiftly as he and Tony Spence (62) punished the Corio attack with a 212-run partnership to post 4-366 from 66 overs.
Martin said he had never struck the ball better, blasting his last 90 runs from 40 deliveries.
“The back end I hit it well, definitely,” he said.
“I had to work hard for the first hundred but it all came off after that.”
His unbeaten 201 topped his 178 against St Joseph’s second XI in 2011-12.
Before Saturday’s heroics, Martin had notched scores of 37, 17 and 8 and he attributes much of his early-season form to maturity.
“I’m just trying to set a good example,” he said.
“Responsibility keeps me in line, where previously I would’ve just thrown it (wicket) away by doing something I just shouldn’t.”
Corio resumes at 2-29 on Saturday.