Australia's young batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk enjoyed a memorable IPL (Indian Premier League) debut on Friday (April 12) as he smashed 55 runs off just 35 balls to help Delhi Capitals (DC) win their second game of the ongoing 17th season.
Fraser-McGurk smashed two fours and five sixes during the course of his knock and entertained the crowd at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Notably, three out of those five maximums came on the first three deliveries of the 13th over.
At the end of the 12th over, Capitals needed 68 more runs to win off the last eight overs at 8.50 runs per over and had their captain Rishabh Pant and Fraser-McGurk at the crease. KL Rahul tossed the ball to one of his trusted spinners in Krunal Pandya who had conceded 16 in his first over.
Hat-trick of sixes by Jake Fraser-McGurk:
Anticipating that Fraser-McGurk may come dancing down the track, Krunal bowled a wide first up. Fraser-McGurk sent the first legitimate delivery flying over the deep-midwicket fence and put the pressure right back on the bowler.
Notably, Fraser-McGurk was batting on 25 off 23 balls before the start of Krunal's over and needed to shift gears quickly. Sensing an opportunity at hand, the Aussie pounced on Krunal and took him to the cleaners.
After getting hit on the leg side, Krunal changed his tactics and bowled the next delivery outside of the off stump but the 22-year-old was prepared. The right-handed batter stayed still in his crease and launched the ball over cover for the second maximum of the over.
Having conceded to consecutive maximums, Krunal tried to pull off yet another trick of his sleeve but ended up overcompensating and got hit for the third six. The left-arm off-spinner bowled a short one which bounced at an ideal height for Fraser-McGurk and he deposited it over the head of the long-off fielder.
Notably, Fraser-McGurk's 55 is the second-highest score by a player on IPL debut for Delhi Capitals. The record belongs to Gautam Gambhir who scored an unbeaten 58* against Rajasthan Royals on IPL debut in 2008. Fraser-McGurk's knock also took him to the second slot on the list of players to register the highest score while batting at No. three on IPL debut.
Michael Hussey holds the record for the highest score (116*) by a player batting at No. three in his debut IPL innings.
