New Delhi [India], April 27 (ANI): After playing an explosive innings during the clash against five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Capitals (DC) opener Jake Fraser-McGurk said that he took singles only on the last ball of the over or during a miss-hit.
In the match, McGurk smashed 84 in 27 balls, with 11 fours and six sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 311.11 at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.
The 22-year-old player asserted that his role in the team is to go out as score as many as he can in order to provide a good start to the team.
“That’s my role, go out there and score as many as I can and get the team off to a nice start…if I get ones and twos it’s probably off the last ball of the over or if I mis-hit it. It’s something I’ve always had, getting that base right and having the right stance. There’s a lot of timing involved in it. The ones that you mis-hit, you need to have a strong core, upper body and glutes as well,” Fraser-McGurk Said in the mid-innings interview
The Aussie batting sensation reached his half-century in 15 balls, equalling his own record of the fastest fifty for the franchise, which came against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in this season.
He is the only batter besides West Indies T20 giants Sunil Narine and Andre Russell to have smashed a half-century in 15 balls or less twice in T20 cricket.
McGurk has the third-highest strike rate by a batter in an IPL innings consisting of 20 or more balls. Suresh Raina has the highest strike rate in an IPL innings of 20 balls or more. His knock of 87 in 25 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2014 has a strike rate of 348.00, which is still a record. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Yusuf Pathan scored 72 in 22 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2014, with a strike rate of 327.27.
Eighty of 84 runs scored by McGurk came through fours and sixes, which means 95.23 per cent of his runs came through boundaries, making it the fourth-highest percentage of runs through boundaries in an IPL innings (50 or more runs).
Raina occupies the top spot here too as 84 of his 87 runs during his iconic knock against Punjab back in 2014, came through fours and sixes, which makes it 96.55 runs via fours and sixes.McGurk smashed 78 of his 84 runs in the powerplay, making it the third-most runs by a player in the powerplay. Raina once again occupies the top spot, scoring all his 87 runs in 25 balls against Punjab back in 2014.
In five matches this season, McGurk has scored 247 runs at an average of 49.40 and a strike rate of 237.50, with three half-centuries. His best score is 84.
Coming to the match, MI put DC to bat first after winning the toss. Openers Jake Fraser McGurk (84 in 27 balls, with 11 fours and six sixes) and Abhishek Porel (36 in 27 balls, with three fours and a six) had a quickfire 114 run opening stand in 45 balls.
After their dismissals, Shai Hope (41 in 17 balls, with five sixes), skipper Rishabh Pant (29 in 18 balls, with two fours and two sixes), Tristan Stubbs (48 in 25 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and Axar Patel (11* in six balls, with a six) continued scoring at a high run rate and took DC to 257/4 in their 20 overs.
Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Nabi and Nuwan Thusara got a wicket each. (ANI)
