Jake Fraser-McGurk can really give the ball a whack. The Australian youngster provided a destructive exhibition of fearless batting during his 84 off 27 balls as Delhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians by 10 runs at the Kotla in Delhi on Saturday.

Chasing 258-run target, the Hardik Pandya-led team remained in the reckoning courtesy Tilak Varma’s 63 off 32 balls following the cheap dismissals of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

Pandya provided good support with 46 off 24, but once Tilak was run out at the start of the final over, their chase fell through. Mumbai Indians needed 25 off it, but Tilak’s departure ended their hopes.

But it was Fraser-McGurk’s 15-ball half-century that provided Capitals with the momentum. It took them just 2.4 overs to reach 50, the joint-fastest for a team in the IPL.

With his slightly open stance to left-armer Luke Wood, he hammered two boundaries and a six using his free-flowing bat swing to send an early warning to the Mumbai Indians bowlers. Wood ended up giving 19 in the first over. He then greeted Jasprit Bumrah with the same disdain.

Bumrah started with a slower one and Fraser-McGurk launched it over long-on for a six. To make it worse, Bumrah overstepped and Fraser-McGurk smashed the free hit past long-on for four more to accumulate 18 off the over.

Fraser-McGurk, however, admitted he was “pretty nervous” about facing up to Bumrah ahead of the match.

“I 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,” the Man of the Match said.

“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.”

There was no stopping Fraser-McGurk, 22, who then launched into Hardik Pandya for two fours and two sixes to take Capitals to 89/0 after five overs. Pandya ended up giving 41 in his two overs and didn’t dare to return for a second spell.Abhishek Porel, his opening partner, was content with rotating the strike till Fraser-McGurk stayed at the crease. The Australian smashed 11 fours and six sixes.

Thereafter, Shai Hope played a useful knock before Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs took over. Pant hit Bumrah for a six on the first ball he faced from the bowler. But Bumrah had the last laugh and dismissed him in the penultimate over of the innings.

Stubbs provided the fireworks towards the end as the home team finished on 257/4. The South African finished on 48 not out off 25.

In their previous game against Gujarat Titans, Stubbs had taken apart R. Sai Kishore. It was Luke Wood’s turn to face the onslaught this time in the final over.

Two scoops and two reverse scoops off the first four balls of the over fetched him 18 runs. For the last two balls, he cleared his front leg and pulled him through midwicket.

In reply, Mumbai Indians reached 65/3 in the Powerplay overs and slowed down a bit but Hardik’s lusty hits kept them in the hunt. After hitting Axar Patel for a six on the last ball of the eighth over, he took on Kuldeep Yadav and struck three fours and a six in the ninth.

Also, just when Suryakumar Yadav was starting to look dangerous, he departed.

It wasn’t Mumbai’s day, and in the end, they fell agonisingly short.