The North vice-captain stole the show during a Ponting Foundation Charity match at Aurora Stadium, blasting 38 runs off 15 balls including four sixes in as many balls.
At 31, Petrie is in his prime in a cricketing sense but assured Kangaroos fans he's not going anywhere.
"I've got to give myself a reality check and not let this gather too much momentum," he said.
"I was facing Boomer (Brent Harvey), who no offence was just bowling slow, nude-nuts.
"I also faced Stuey MacGill who retired many years ago and Matty Hayden who's probably never bowled a test over in his life."
It was the latter who copped the most punishment, with the onslaught only brought to a halt when Petrie found pity for his victim.
"I felt a little bit embarrassed that I was hitting him (Hayden) for sixes.
"I'd hit him for 6-4-6-6, then I just blocked one back to him because I felt a bit embarrassed. Matty Hayden's a legend of Australian cricket...I couldn't try and hit him for another boundary.
"He's never really bowled before and I said 'thanks mate for looking after me'. He came back with 'I wasn't looking after you, I was trying my hardest'. That made me feel ever worse, like I was patronizing him a bit."
While Petrie's status grew as a batsmen his bowling was lacking. Expensive early, he got the better of Hayden. Eventually.
"I bowled an over and he hit me for 20. He got some revenge," Petrie added.
"The first ball was a dot ball, then it went 6-4-4-6 and then he skied one and I got him out.
"I was lucky enough to play in Mike Hussey's team and he's just a gentlemen of the game, as he showed throughout his cricketing career.
"To be able to rub shoulders with the likes of him, Adam Gilchrist, Greg Blewett, Damien Fleming, Merv Hughes on my side - just to spend a few hours in the field and in the dressing rooms with those guys was a childhood dream."
And the Kangaroos' veteran admits he may have got a little caught up in the moment.
"It was awesome. The Mexican wave was going around the crowd and they were nice and vocal as well. It's something that I won't forget."
As for Harvey's performance - well it was just 'OK'.
"He didn't drop a catch. He fielded OK and threw the ball in to Ian Healy well enough. He bowled a couple of overs and got a wicket for not many runs.
"He came in and batted, knocked a couple of fours, made 15 runs off about nine or ten balls. He was a solid contributor."
Almost 18,000 people were on hand for a night to remember, as the real star of the evening Ricky Ponting belted 83 to help his team to victory.
"It's a great foundation and Ricky and his wife Rianna do a terrific job in volunteering their time to raise funds for a great cause.
"You never hope you have to see anyone in your family suffer cancer, but with the Ponting Foundation, it would certainly help ease some of the burden."
An estimated $200,000 was raised on the night.
"It will help every family and every child suffering childhood cancer in Tasmania," Ponting told ABC News.
"It's incredible really. We knew that we'd sold a lot of tickets and we thought we'd get a pretty good turnout but for nearly 18,000 people to come along for a T20 game in Launceston is pretty remarkable."
