NEW DELHI: Known for his explosive batting, Delhi Capitals (DC) batter Jake Fraser-McGurk made his presence felt, scoring fifty on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Friday.
The young Australian cricketer, who scored a quickfire 55 off 35 balls with the help of 2 fours and 5 sixes, made short work of LSG's left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya, hitting him for three consecutive sixes.
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The incident occurred in the 13th over of the innings when Fraser-McGurk, who got off the mark with two sixes in the IPL, launched an assault on Krunal, who started off with a wide, hitting him over deep mid-wicket for the first six. Fraser-McGurk didn't stop there, as he dispatched the next one over deep extra cover, followed by another one over long off, to complete the hat-trick of sixes.
DC finally registered their second win of the season, beating hosts LSG by six wickets, riding on debutant Fraser-McGurk's fine half century and skipper Rishabh Pant's 24-ball 41, which included 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Earlier, Ayush Badoni played a crucial innings for LSG against DC, guiding his team to a respectable total of 167/7 with a quick-fire unbeaten half-century. This recovery was particularly notable after left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav shone with a three-wicket haul for Delhi.
Making a comeback after missing three matches due to injury, Kuldeep made an immediate impact by claiming three wickets while conceding no boundaries in his four overs. His victims included key batsmen like skipper KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, and the dangerous Nicholas Pooran.
