Australia's Jake Fraser-McGurk is lighting up the Indian Premier League season 17 like very few have done so far. The Delhi Capitals (DC) batter, who came in as a replacement for pacer Lungi Ngidi was forced to warm the bench during the initial games of the season as the team combination made it extremely difficult for him to find a place in the playing XI.
However, the moment he was included in the XI, Fraser-McGurk hit the ground running. He made his IPL debut in the 26th match of the ongoing season against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and registered the second-highest score by a player on IPL debut for Delhi Capitals with his 55 off 35 balls.
The Aussie's counterattacking innings helped Delhi Capitals chase down 168 on a tough batting wicket and became the first team to chase anything above 160 against Lucknow in IPL history.
The 22-year-old batted like a win and smashed two fours and five sixes to make light work of the chase. His strike rate of 157.14 allowed Delhi to keep the asking rate in check throughout the chase.
In the next game against Gujarat Titans, though Delhi Capitals were chasing merely 90 to win, Fraser-McGurk came out with the same attacking intent and punished the Titans bowlers brutally.
His stay was much shorter this time around but was eventful as the right-hander batter batted at a strike rate of 200 and scored 20 off 10 balls. His cameo demolished the hopes that Gujarat had of winning the game and Capitals reigned supreme at the end.
Jake Fraser-McGurk in IPL 2024:
- Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals: 55 off 35 balls
- Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals: 20 off 10 balls
- Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: 65 off 18 balls
Fraser-McGurk's hit the headlines again on Saturday during Capitals' first game at Arun Jaitley Stadium when they took on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Chasing a mammoth total of 267 to win, it was Fraser-McGurk's quickfire 65 off just 18 balls that kept the hosts in the chase.
Fraser-McGurk smashed five fours and seven sixes during his stay in the middle and registered the fourth-fastest fifty of the tournament, taking just 15 balls to reach the milestone.
