Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed 87 off 27 to join an exclusive list of only three players to boast a 300+ strike-rate having faced 20 or more balls in an IPL innings as Delhi Capitals out-hit Mumbai Indians in yet another game with a match aggregate in excess of 500 runs. Jake Fraser-McGurk‘s 84 off 27 balls proved to be the difference as Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by ten runs in Delhi in another run fest of IPL 2024.
Apart from Jake Fraser-McGurk, Shai Hope and Tristan Stubbs also played crucial knocks for DC as they posted 257 for 4 after being sent in. In reply, MI lost three wickets in the powerplay – the big ones of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav – but Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya kept their hopes alive. Rasikh Salam, however, turned the game by dismissing Hardik and Nehal Wadhera in the same over. While Tilak and Tim David fought till the end, MI eventually fell short hence sending DC to fifth place in the points table.
Pitch and Toss
“There is not a cloud in the sky and the mercury is almost touching 40, 39 degrees for an afternoon fixture. We will get to the pitch, but first the dimensions – to my left 59 meters, on the other side 64 meters and down town is roughly about 73, but the major concern is 54 meters behind the wicket on one side. The only difference I see today is it is quite bare, there is no grass here and you’d think wow that is going to be brilliant for the spinners. It is going to be slightly better for the spinners, but the problem for the bowlers is it is rock hard.
It is like a sheet of marble. No grass will allow the spinners to have a bit of turn and if you look at the spin attacks, Delhi have a slight advantage. Nothing for the seamers,” reckon Danny Morrison and Sanjay Manjrekar.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl with one change as Gerald Coetzee was replaced by Luke Wood. Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant batting first also had one change to their playing XI having Kumar Kushagra in for Prithvi Shaw.
Jake Fraser-McGurk spares no one, not even Bumrah as DC gallops to 92 for 0 in the Powerplay
If you squinted until colors aren’t easily discernible, you could be excused for mistaking the start of this game to be a highlights reel of some other games you’ve already seen this season. On this sultry afternoon, it was Jake Fraser-McGurk bringing all the heat to the Mumbai bowlers.
The first three balls of the innings, bowled by Luke Wood, went for 4, 4 and 6 and the 19-run over set the tone for the rest of the PowerPlay. Even Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t spared by the 22-year-old Jake Fraser -McGurk, who welcomed the star pacer with a six and handed him an 18-run over – Bumrah’s most expensive this season.
It was fuss-free batting from the Australian Jake Fraser-McGurk, who stood still at the crease, cleared his front-foot and swung through the line. Jake Fraser -McGurk equaled his own record for the fastest 50 of the season – 15 balls – and made 78 off 24 balls [11×4, 5×6] in the first five overs. It seemed like his new opening partner, Abhishek Porel, was playing a different game, crawling to 11 off 13 after managing only three runs from Bumrah’s second over.
As he has done often in his fledgling career so far, Jake Fraser-McGurk did not waste time getting his eye in and his bat swinging. With a slightly open stance to left-arm seamer Luke Wood, Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed the first three balls of the innings for 4, 4 and 6.
After taking 19 from the first over, Jake Fraser-McGurk greeted Jasprit Bumrah in the same manner. Bumrah started his over with a slower ball only to be launched over long-on for a six. To make things worse, Bumrah had overstepped, and Jake Fraser-McGurk drilled the free-hit past long-on for four. Jake Fraser-McGurk ended the over with another boundary, making it Bumrah’s most expensive over (18 runs) of the season.
DC reached 50 in just 2.4 overs, the joint-fastest for a team in the IPL. In the next over, Jake Fraser-McGurk got to his own fifty. Coming off just 15 balls, it was the joint-fourth fastest in the tournament’s history. Hardik brought himself on for the fifth over but there was no stopping Jake Fraser-McGurk, who hammered the MI captain for two fours and two sixes to take DC to 89 for no loss after five overs.
For a moment, it looked like Jake Fraser-McGurk might break the record for the fastest T20 hundred – he already has the fastest List A hundred to his name – but he holed out to deep midwicket against Piyush Chawla for a 27-ball 84.
Spinners strike but Hope helps DC keep pace in the middle overs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk fell attempting to slog Piyush Chawla to the longer boundary for a 27-ball 84. Porel fell soon after for a steady 36 in the middle of a lull in the proceedings with overs 8-10 bringing only 15 runs. At the point, it seemed as if DC had erred in sending out Shai Hope at No.3. All that changed in the 11th over when he slogged Chawla for a six. Two more came in the next over bowled by Mohammad Nabi. Hope added two more sixes off Wood before falling in the 14th over after an excellent momentum maintaining 17-ball 41.
Walking in at 114 for 1 in 7.3 overs, Hope ensured there was no dip in the momentum. Over the last one year or so, he has worked on his six-hitting skills and has demonstrated the same in ODIs but was unable to do so in T20s. On Saturday, though, he smashed five sixes in a 17-ball 41 to keep DC going in the middle overs.
Tristan Stubbs takes Wood apart as DC rises to 257 for 4 after 20 overs.
The final overs of DC’s innings brought 67 runs. Twenty-six of them came in the 18th over bowled by Luke Wood with Tristan Stubbs hitting each delivery for a four or a six. The highlight of Stubbs’ assault was his ability to exploit the field – third-man and fine-leg up – by walking across and scooping or reverse-scooping full-length deliveries. The former MI batter finished with 48* off 25. Amid all the carnage, Bumrah finished with 1 for 35 from his four overs, giving away just 17 runs from his final three overs.
After Hope fell, Stubbs took over and raced to 48 not out off 25 balls. In the 18th over, he used scoops, reverse-scoops and pulls to hit five fours and a six off Wood. Despite Bumrah dismissing Rishabh Pant in the 19th and conceding only six, DC had no trouble in crossing 250.
DC dominate the other powerplay too by taking 3 MI wickets.
Mumbai Indians scored 65 in the PowerPlay and it seemed like the chasm between the sides in this contest had widened. For starters, the pitch began holding up as had been anticipated by Rishabh Pant. The pace off deliveries too had an effect. Rohit Sharma was hurried by Lizaad Williams and the lost his shape attempting a heave against Khaleel Ahmed.
Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav began well but fell to catches in the circle. Khaleel’s dismissal of Suryakumar off the last ball of the PowerPlay, gave him 2 for 34 from three overs and left the visitors playing catch-up.
MI had a brisk start to their chase with Ishan Kishan hitting three successive fours off Khaleel Ahmed in the second over. But Khaleel made a good comeback and had Rohit Sharma caught at mid-off in his next over. From the other end, Mukesh Kumar had Kishan miscuing one to make it 45 for 2.
Suryakumar Yadav started with a flurry of boundaries, including two scooped sixes. But in the last over of the powerplay, he failed to pick a slower ball from Khaleel and fell for 26 off 13 balls.
Tilak Verma , Hardik Pandya take down spin in the middle overs
Five overs of spin through overs 7-15 brought Mumbai Indians 71 runs in this phase. Hardik Pandya set the tone early when he hit Kuldeep Yadav for three fours and a six, using the sweep shot to good effect. Tilak Varma then made most of his match to hit Axar Patel for a six and a four.
With the season’s best spin pair taken down, Rishabh Pant turned back to pace and Rasikh Dar helped break the stand in the 13th over but not before Hardik hit 46 off 24 in a stand of 71 (39). Dar also dismissed Nehal Wadhera in the over but Tilak plundered 21 off Kuldeep to keep MI just about afloat in the chase. They needed 83 to win from the final five.
MI had slowed down a bit after the powerplay but Hardik put them back on track. He hit Axar Patel for a six off the last ball of the eighth over and then smacked three fours and a six off Kuldeep Yadav in the ninth. Tilak, who was batting on a run-a-ball eight till then, also got into the act with a six and a four in Axar’s next over.
MI were still playing catch-up when Rasikh, after coming in as Impact Player, pegged them further back with a two-wicket over. Hardik ended up skying a back-of-the-hand slower ball to backward point and Nehal Wadhera guided a length delivery straight to Pant. That left MI needing 117 from seven overs with five wickets in hand.
Tilak, David fight hard but in vain as impressive Rasikh Dar keeps MI at bay
Tilak and David kept the fight going. Tilak hit Kuldeep for two fours and two sixes in a 21-run 15th over to bring the equation down to 85 from five overs. But another excellent over by Rasikh, which went for only seven, made it 64 required from three. David took on Mukesh and hit him for two sixes and a four to start the 18th over but was lbw off the next ball. Rasikh went for 16 in the penultimate over but dismissed Mohammad Nabi, which meant it was Tilak or bust for MI with 25 required from the final over.
The death overs began with Tilak and Tim David picking 14 off a Lizaad Williams over, the former completing a 25-ball 50 along the way. Rasikh Dar, another former MI player, then produced the defining over of the game to give away just 7 bowling a string of full-length deliveries or low full-tosses that were hard to put away.
MI got 23 off the next over from Mukesh Kumar but lost Tim David after the Australia batter plundered two sixes and a four before wearing a full toss on his pads. Rasikh dismissed Mohammad Nabi in his final over to finish with outstanding figures of 3 for 34 and even though MI kept hitting through until the final over, his spell ensured they fell just short. Tilak went for a risky second run off the first ball of that over only to be caught short, and Mukesh held his nerve for the next five balls to seal the win for DC.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Hardik Pandya the loosing skipper said :
“This game is becoming more and more closer. It (the difference) used to be a couple of overs, now it’s becoming a couple of balls. Because of the kind of games and how the bowlers are under pressure, we backed ourselves to do it. If I had to pick something out, we could have taken a couple of more chances in the middle overs,”
“The left-handers could have probably gone after Axar a little bit, it’s something we missed out in terms of game awareness. It was quite amazing the way he (Fraser-McGurk) batted, he took calculated risks, he played the field really well. It shows the fearlessness of youth. (If he would’ve done something different at the toss) Not really,” he added.
Rishabh Pant the winning skipper said :
“We were pretty happy with 250 on the board but with impact sub it is getting difficult each and every day. Definitely I can do that (come up to the stumps) but the bowler also should be confident, but with a batter like David was walking down and today it worked,”
“He (Fraser-McGurk) has been amazing since the first day and this is what you want from a younger player, he’s getting better and better with each game. The chances (of making it to the playoffs) are increasing day by day, but we are taking it one game at a time,” he added.
Jake Fraser-McGurk Player of the Match for his 27 ball 84 said :
“It was pretty nervous. I had looked at his (Bumrah’s) footage all day. But in the game everything goes out of the window and you just have to see the ball. It is good to test yourself against the best bowler in the world. You have to ride the waves of highs and lows,”
“These innings are good for my confidence and for my team. From outside you don’t know the level of the competition, this is such a higher level than the other leagues and it is amazing to be a part of it,” he added.
Phew! Another humdinger of a game. When is a contest really over these days!!! It is not over when Rohit, Kishan and SKY are sent back within the powerplay. It is not over when Hardik and Wadhera depart in the same over. It is not over when Mumbai’s most powerful batter – Tim David – falls in the 18th over. It is only over when the last ball is bowled. That is the confidence and self belief of every batter in this edition.
Tilak Varma was the standout for Mumbai, he played the anchor as well as the aggressor and with little more support, he would have taken the game away from Delhi. Rasikh Dar was the pick for the home side, he came on as an impact sub and picked up 3 for 34 in this high-scoring affair while the rest went for plenty. In the end it was his spell of four overs which made the difference. The win took DC to fifth place on the points table with ten points from as many games. MI stay rooted to ninth with six points from nine matches.
Mumbai Indians continue on the road and will play LSG on Tuesday. Delhi Capitals have a shorter turnaround and will play KKR at the Eden Gardens on Monday.