[Watch] Krunal Pandya bowls a 116.2 kmph bouncer to catch Jake Fraser-McGurk off guard in LSG vs DC IPL 2024 clashÂ
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) all-rounder Krunal Pandya dug deep into his bag of tricks to unsettle high-flying Delhi Capitals (DC) debutant Jake-Fraser McGurk at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday, April 12.
The young Australian had taken the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm after hitting two sixes off his first five deliveries. The right-handed batter's next challenge was against spinners - Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi - which he dealt with caution.
However, after being well set and victory in sight, Fraser-McGurk switched gears. After an 18-ball spell without a boundary, he smashed three consecutive sixes off Krunal to get going again in the 13th over of the innings.
The left-arm spinner felt the need to disrupt Fraser-McGurk's momentum and dished out the last-resort bouncer. Bowling seam up, much like a medium pacer, Pandya banged it in short.
Fraser-McGurk thought for a second to go for the pull but then refrained from doing so after realizing that the ball would go well over his head. The tall KL Rahul also had to jump full length to collect the delivery right behind the stumps. The square leg and the on-field umpire had no hesitation to call it a wide.
Have a look at the freakish delivery from the 1:14 mark in the video here:
Krunal Pandya had a poor outing after conceding 45 runs off three overs and was the most expensive bowler of the contest by some distance.
"I loved the one over cover, nothing better than hitting over the off-side" - Fraser-McGurk picks his six off Krunal Pandya as his favorite of the innings
Jake Fraser-McGurk turned out to be the difference between the two teams. The debutant provided the push in the middle overs that LSG lacked in their innings. The youngster smashed 55 runs off 25 deliveries at a strike rate of 157.14 with the aid of two fours and five sixes.
"I spent the last 5-6 games on the sidelines and was itching to have a go. It was more of trying not to swing too hard, trying to find the middle of the bat and that's what I have been trying to do in the last 12 months. I loved the one over cover, nothing better than hitting over the off-side. It is something that I continue to learn and do, batting outside of the powerplay and I will get better by playing more games," Jake Fraser-McGurk said during the post-match presentation
Krunal Pandya, on the other hand, has been wicketless in four of the five matches this season. He bowled a brilliant spell of 3-11 in LSG's win over GT but has largely been ordinary otherwise.