With five booming sixes and all-or-nothing daring, Australian cricket’s shooting star Jake Fraser-McGurk has announced himself as the Indian Premier League’s latest big hit.
Fraser-McGurk had been warming the bench for Delhi Capitals, waiting patiently for his day in the spotlight – and when the moment came, he grabbed it hungrily on Friday, playing a spectacular winning hand on debut for the struggling franchise with a half-century that lifts them off the foot of the IPL table.
Coach Ricky Ponting, looking to change the fortunes of the struggling franchise, decided to give the lad from Box Hill, who had turned 22 on Thursday, a belated birthday present – and it was his old Test colleague Justin Langer, now in charge of Lucknow Super Giants, who suffered the consequences.
Chasing down the Super Giants’ 167-7 in Lucknow, the Victorian was quickly thrust into the action at first drop after veteran compatriot David Warner was bowled for just eight by Yash Thakur in the fourth over.
But just as in his List A and first-class debuts when he also scored half-centuries, Fraser-McGurk looked quite unfazed on his IPL bow, smashing the second ball he faced off Yash into the crowd over deep midwicket. Fraser-McGurk then pummelled Arshad Khan for an even bigger maximum, measured at more than 96m, into a similar vicinity before the spinners began to keep him a bit quieter as captain Rishabh Pant took over responsibility in the chase.
But it was impossible not to admire Fraser-McGurk’s six-or-out approach as the man with No 33 on his back, for his next trick, gave a distinctly irritated Krunal Pandya a devil of a time with his six, six, six off successive balls. It reduced Pandya to send down a wide 115km/h bouncer, evidently piqued that he might go for six sixes in an over.
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Eventually, Fraser-McGurk, who reached 50 off 31, tried one extravagance too many and sliced Naveen-ul-Haq to Arshad Khan at deep point, but the game was already as good as won. It was an exhilarating feeling for the youngster, who watched his side then gallop to their target, finishing with 170-4 and a six-wicket win with 11 balls remaining.
“So happy to be here,” Fraser-McGurk beamed after his 55 off 35 balls (two fours, five sixes). “It’s just a different cricket world over here. Never seen anything like it, heard a lot about it, it’s just amazing.”
“I’ve spent the last five, six games on the sidelines just watching it and itching to get out there. So just to get out there and have my first game, I’m stoked. I tried not to swing too hard, not lose my shape and tried to find the middle of the bat. That’s what I’ve been doing the last 12 months – why change it?”
Pant, who made 41 as Delhi rose from the foot of the table to ninth, smiled they had “probably” found their rightful No 3 after early-season failures.
KL Rahul, Lucknow’s skipper, was also impressed. “McGurk was very unknown. We’ve watched a lot of videos of him, but he hit the ball really well, credit to him, he changed the game,” he said.
For Lucknow, Marcus Stoinis didn’t have the best of days, scoring eight and then being hit for 10 off his one over as Ayush Badoni’s unbeaten 55 off 35 balls proved their batting highlight.
