Australian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk had a debut to remember in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as helped Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with a finely-crafted half-century. On just the second delivery he faced, Fraser-McGurk sent Yash Thakur‘s delivery for a six over deep mid-wicket. However, it wasn’t the end of the Fraser-McGurk show in Lucknow as he took Krunal Pandya to the cleaners, smashing the India all-rounder for three sixes on the bounce. His 55-run knock, however, came to an end when he holed out to Arshad Khan.
But his carnage helped DC register a six-wicket win, just their second of the IPL 2024 and it took them out of the bottom spot in the points table.
Who is Jake Fraser-McGurk?
Fraser-McGurk, born on April 11 2002, celebrated his 22nd birthday on the eve of his IPL debut.
He went unsold during the IPL 2024 auction but joined DC as a replacement for the injured South African pacer Lungi Ngidi.
The Victorian has represented Australia through various under-age teams including the Australian U/19 side in 2019. So far, he has also played twice for the senior team, a couple of ODIs.
He made his Shield and Marsh Cup debuts for Victoria in the early rounds of the 2019/2020 season and performed well, making a 50 in both of his maiden appearances, all before his 18th birthday.
Fraser-McGurk holds the record for scoring the fastest List-A hundred off 29 balls, surpassing the previous record of 31 balls by AB De Villiers.
After starring with the bat on his debut, Fraser-McGurk said he was desperate to perform after sitting out initially.
“Spent five, six games on the sidelines itching to get out there, stoked! Was just more about trying not to swing too hard and lose shape. That’s what I’ve done over the last 12 months. I loved the one over cover, pretty happy with that. Don’t usually hit many over the offside. Batting out of the Power-play is something am continuing to learn, it’ll come with experience. I’m so happy to be here, different world in terms of cricket. Never seen anything like it, to be able to savour eight weeks, hopefully, more, is amazing,” McGurk said at the post-match presentation.
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