Brooklyn, NY – A cricket player was battling for his life Sunday night after being struck by lightning while racing off the field at Marine Park to escape a sudden thunderstorm. (For storm photos, click HERE)

Patrick Gibson, 41, was barely breathing and his legs were badly burned after the Marine Park lightning strike, witnesses said.

Gibson was playing in his first game for the Brooklyn-based Stars United team when the wild weather chased players off the field at Avenue S and E. 32nd St. just after 4 p.m.

Friends said the Brooklyn man had lagged behind the group to collect equipment when he was hit.

“It started raining. The thunder cracked, and he just fell,” said witness Dominic Audain, 22, a cricket player on the opposing team, Middlesex Cricket Country Club.

“I thought he was stunned or shocked,” Audain said. “Ten seconds passed and he wasn’t moving. That’s when we ran over.”

Joseph Shortte, 49, of Brooklyn said he performed CPR on Gibson until paramedics arrived.

“His legs were really badly burned,” said Shortte. “His clothes were totally destroyed.”

Gibson went into cardiac arrest as he was being rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center in Brooklyn, Fire Department officials said.

He was in critical condition last night.

Meanwhile, a man was hurt when heavy winds knocked a tree over onto his Mercedes-Benz, trapping him inside.

Emergency Medical Services workers responded to the scene at 164th St. and Underwood Ave. in Flushing, Queens, and freed the man, who suffered minor injuries.

“He was driving and it just landed right on him,” said Paul Priore, 45, of Flushing, who witnessed the incident. “The guy was lucky he got out.”

(Source: NY Daily News)