The speed gun radar will be functioning overtime when Lockie Ferguson’s 150 click thunderbolts meet their match in rising pace sensation Umran Malik’s toe-crushers as table toppers Gujarat Titans clash with close-on-heels Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede on Wednesday.

The IPL newcomers are currently in the midst of a dream inception year with six wins from seven games and are placed on top of the table. Their only loss so far was against Sunrisers in an earlier meeting and captain Hardik Pandya wouldn’t mind a sweet revenge for that defeat.

However, the ‘Orange Army’s’ bowling attack, especially their four-prong pace unit, has been exceptional as one saw when they demolished RCB for 68 in their previous encounter. The disconcerting bounce and movement created by Marco Jansen (6 wickets from 5 games) is ably complemented by Umran (10 wickets from 7 games)’s fiery pace, T. Natarajan’s (15 from 7 games) deceptions off the track and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (9 from 7 games) balancing it all with his experience. So much so that a lightweight spin department manned by left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith in the absence of an injured Washington Sundar, till now hasn’t been a cause of worry for Kane Williamson and his band of men.

Also, the manner in which the Sunrisers batsmen have been chasing down targets — they have won all their tosses and batted second — will give them confidence.

But the Titans’ bowling unit is no inferior to Sunrisers’ as Mohammed Shami’s artistry (10 from 7 games) and Ferguson’s (9 wickets from 7 games) aggression has brought them a lot of success, not to forget Rashid Khan (8 wickets from 7 games)’s ability to be more than decent even in a quiet year by his standards.

However, one area where the Titans need to lift their game is Powerplay batting as Shubman Gill (207 from 7 games) has gone off the boil after his 96 and Wriddhiman Saha, replacing Matthew Wade, has been downright mediocre. In fact, Saha’s propensity to waste balls upfront (dismal strike rate of 83 in two games) in both the matches that he has played so far has forced skipper Pandya 295 from 6 games) and David Miller (220 from 7 games) to up the ante even before they can take some time to play themselves in.

For skipper Pandya, it will be important that he isn’t plagued by a dodgy hamstring which led to his absence from one game and also created some degree of discomfort against KKR the other day.