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A day after he turned 22, Jake Fraser-McGurk showed the world why he is considered one of the emerging destructive batters in white-ball cricket.
Featuring in his maiden Indian Premier League fixture on Friday, the youngster from Australia looked at ease en route to his 55 (35b, 2×4, 5×6) as Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets to bring its campaign back on track.
After the home team rode on a late flourish by Ayush Badoni (55 n.o., 35b, 5×4,1×6) and Arshad Khan to add 73-runs – the highest eighth-wicket stand in the history of the tournament – and put up 167 for 7, Fraser-McGurk and captain Rishabh Pant took things in their stride, forged a 77-run partnership for the third wicket and paved the way for Delhi’s much-needed win.
Coming on the back of a memorable Big Bash League stint, Fraser-McGurk began with a bang – hitting Yash Thakur for a six – at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium on Friday, and made the most of a reprieve to gallop past a half-century and put Delhi Capitals within touching distance of its second win before being dismissed by Naveen-ul-Haq.
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After David Warner fell early and Prithvi Shaw’s quick-fire innings came to an abrupt end, the seasoned Pant played the role of an anchor, allowing Fraser-McGurk to play freely. Though Pant looked set to bring up his third fifty of the season, he fell nine runs short after being stumped by his LSG counterpart K.L. Rahul off Ravi Bishnoi. With Fraser-McGurk and Pant setting the stage for Delhi’s win, Sai Hope and Tristan Stubbs completed the formalities with 11 balls to spare.
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While the batters played their roles to perfection, Kuldeep Yadav stole the show early on as he returned to action in style with a 3 for 20 to jolt LSG before Badoni came to the rescue.
Being sidelined for a fortnight due to a groin niggle, the left-arm wrist spinner claimed two consecutive wickets in his opening over and followed it up with the big scalp of Rahul. With fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed, too, bowling a tidy opening spell, it turned out to be a forgettable outing for LSG.
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