Travis Head is in blistering form in the IPL.Credit:AP
Delhi’s reply,chasing a distant 266,was supercharged early on by Fraser-McGurk,who has made an impact in each of his three IPL innings so far after beingbrought into the side following a hamstring tear for Mitchell Marsh.
By crashing his way to 50 in a mere 15 balls,Fraser-McGurk bettered Head's mark for the fastest half century for the tournament,set little more than an hour earlier in the game.
However,the Capitals’ chase lost momentum once Fraser-McGurk was dismissed for 65 from 18 balls,and left the team coached by Ricky Ponting with five losses from eight games. Sunrisers,captained by Pat Cummins and coached by Australian assistant Dan Vettori,have moved up to second with five wins from seven games and a series of scoring records.
To put their feats in context – as all IPL scoring rises notably in the new phase of the impact player rule – a tally of 266 was the fourth-highest total in tournament history but only Hyderabad’s third best score this season.
Delhi’s captain Rishabh Pant was left lamenting the absence of significant dew to hamper bowlers in the second innings of the game after choosing to send the Sunrisers’ hot batting line-up in first after winning the toss.
"The only thought process behind[opting to bowl at the toss] was we thought there will be a bit of dew,which did not come,"Rishabh said at the post-match presentation."If we could have restricted them to 220-230 we still had a chance.[The ball] stopped more[on the surface] in the second innings than what we anticipated. But when you have 260-270 to defend,it gives bowlers confidence."