Fraser-McGurk smashes 49-ball ton as South Australia thrash Queensland


Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed his own Australian domestic One-Day record by thumping a 14-ball fifty on his way to a 49-ball century as South Australia thumped Queensland at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide. Fraser-McGurk finished with 122 from 63 including 10 fours and nine sixes to post his second List A century while skipper Nathan McSweeney made 106 from 103, his third List ton and his second in four innings after making 123 for Australia A against India A a fortnight ago, to help South Australia pile up 397 for 7 before Spencer Johnson took his maiden List A five-for as Queensland were bowled out for 271 in reply with Lachlan Hearne playing a lone hand in making 121. The match's player of the match, Fraser-McGurk, is on track to break his own world record for the fastest List A century with a stunning attack. He struck Tom Straker for 22 in the innings' second over and Tom Whitney for 16 in the fourth. He continued his assault in the sixth over, smashing Hayden Kerr for a six and a four to score fifty off 14 balls. It was four balls faster than his previous record of 18 balls, which he set in 2023, and it was just three balls shy of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's world record. He now sits joint fourth on the list of fastest List A fifties globally. His 29-ball century mark was in reach when he cracked four fours and a six off his next eight deliveries to move to 75 from 22. But Queensland captain, and four-Test spinner, Mitchell Swepson extinguished hopes when he bowled five balls to Fraser-McGurk in the ninth over for the cost of one run with only two men out. Fraser-McGurk could not hit his fast legbreaks from the top of the stumps, miscuing one just short of mid-on and narrowly avoiding being trapped lbw off another when it was sliding down leg. Fraser-McGurk opted to play steadily from there as he and Mackenzie Harvey racked up an opening stand of 129 from just 11.3 overs before the latter fell for 46 from 35. In the 14th over, Fraser-McGurk hit back-to-back sixes off Whitney to reach the nineties before completing his century with singles. He hit two fours and a six off Jack Clayton's part-time left-arm orthodox before falling lbw for 122 while attempting to sweep Kerr's left-arm seam. His impressive record at the Karen Rolton Oval demonstrates Fraser-McGurk's love affair with it. From six innings, he has two centuries and an 88, batting at a strike rate of 204.97 and an average of 68.66. Extraordinarily, in his 32 other List A innings, including seven ODIs, he only averages 20.55 and hits at 112.66, with his only half-century coming in Victoria's 2019 List A debut at the MCG. McSweeney was pedestrian by comparison as he cruised to his century with 10 boundaries but no sixes. He and Jake Lehmann shared a 115-run fifth-wicket partnership, contributing 58 runs off 46 balls. With ten balls remaining in the innings, McSweeney was bowled by Oli Patterson, ending SA's hopes of reaching 400. But it didn't matter because Johnson stopped Queensland's chase in the powerplay. His extra pace forced a miscue from Hugh Weibgen. After scoring centuries in his previous two innings, the former captain of Australia's Under-19 team was run out for nine when he missed with a pull shot to mid-on. Four overs later, Hugo Burdon miscued another Johnson short ball to Fraser-McGurk at deep square after racing to 29 from 14 balls. In between Johnson's strikes, Wes Agar rattled Jack Clayton's off stump. The promoted Hayden Kerr was caught behind by Henry Thornton in the final over the powerplay, ending the chase at 73 for 4. Hearne made every effort to keep the chase moving, but he ran out of partners who were willing to help. Max Bryant made 26 but became Johnson's third victim. Jimmy Peirson scored 45 runs, but Lloyd Pope took three wickets with his leg spin. The celebrations for Hearne's second List A hundred were muted. Before becoming Johnson's fifth victim, he was clean bowled swinging for the fence with the first ball of the 41st over, scoring 121 out of 104 with nine fours and three sixes.