She knocked up a century - believed to be the first of its kind in the women's domestic twenty/20 competition - then picked up three stumpings in leading her side to a convincing 50-run win over the Otago Sparks at the University Oval yesterday.
Priest, who faced the first and last balls of the innings, acknowledged it had been pretty much a perfect day.
"I was seeing it pretty well and that bat I have is a pretty big bat with a lot of wood in it," she said.
"I did not think I was going to get there, to get a 100, and just wanted to keep on batting. But I managed to hit a couple of fours when it mattered and then I wasn't far away."
Priest brought up the milestone from the penultimate ball of the innings, dispatching the ball over square leg for six. It was one of two shots she sent over the boundary, along with 14 boundaries along the deck.
Priest had a 95-run partnership with Sara McGlashan and that in effect took the game away from the Sparks side which slumped to its 10th straight loss of the season.
Priest, the White Ferns wicketkeeper, grabbed three stumpings in Otago's innings in her standout performance, but gave credit to the Central bowlers.
"They bowled really well and Otago was always going to go for it and that gave me more of a chance. You always got a lot of stumpings in twenty/20."
It was the second century of her career, after knocking up one against Canterbury in a one-day game three seasons ago. She ended up on 106 not out, off 74 balls.
She was particularly hard on the short ball, dispatching on to the leg side, and the Otago Sparks bowlers also threw in too many full tosses which were dispatched to the boundary.
Chasing a daunting 170 to win, Otago was behind the eight-ball straight away and, once skipper Katey Martin went in the third over, there was little hope.
Suzie Bates went at the start of the eighth over and Natasha Miles and Kylie Crowley then departed in consecutive balls in the 11th over and the game was effectively over. Otago limped to 119 for nine wickets at the end of its 20 overs.
The teams will do battle today at the same venue in a one-day game before another twenty/20 match tomorrow.
Canterbury lashed 49 for four in its rain-shortened, five-over HRV Cup game against Northern Districts on Saturday, with former Black Caps allrounder Brendon Diamanti's hitting 29 off 13 balls.
In reply, ND was only able to scratch together 33 for three.
