NEW DELHI:
Jake Fraser-McGurk
made a stunning debut for Delhi Capitals (DC), smashing a half-century to help his team secure a commanding six-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their IPL encounter in Lucknow on Friday.
Fraser-McGurk, who celebrated his 22nd birthday just the day before, showcased his talent by forming a crucial 77-run partnership for the third wicket with captain
Rishabh Pant
, who contributed with a solid 41 runs.
Their partnership played a pivotal role in DC successfully chasing down LSG’s total of 167 runs with 11 balls to spare.
With this victory, DC climbed to ninth place in the 10-team IPL standings, marking only their second win in six outings and reigniting their hopes in the fiercely competitive T20 tournament.
IPL: POINTS TABLE | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP
However, after this loss, LSG, who came into the match with three wins out of four games, is now fourth in the standings.
DC skipper Pant was quite relieved after the victory, as he said that they badly wanted the win.
“Little relief, we wanted a win badly. I was talking to the boys saying we need to think like champions, we need to keep fighting hard. (On bowling) We have phases where we are not up to the mark, some individuals have to take responsibility for that. However, we stick together as a group,” Pant said at the post-match presentation.
Praising young Fraser-McGurk’s blistering knock, Pant said that hopefully DC have found their No. 3.
“Some things you can control, some things we can’t. (On team combination) I think we are getting closer to the right XI, but we’ve had so many injuries in this group. However, you can’t keep complaining about that. (On Fraser-McGurk) Hopefully, we’ve found our new number 3, haven’t thought too much about it. Hope he can continue,” Pant added.