Titans faces Sunrisers test

Mumbai: 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 topper Gujarat Titans clashes with close-on-heels Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL here on Wednesday.

The IPL newcomer is currently in the midst of a dream inception year with six wins from seven games at the halfway stage and is placed on top of the table. Interestingly, the only loss that Titans suffered in its campaign so far was against Sunrisers in an earlier meeting and Hardik Pandya wouldn’t mind a sweet revenge for that defeat.

However, the ‘Orange Army’s’ bowling attack especially its four-prong fast bowling unit has been exceptional as one saw when it demolished Bangalore for 68 in its previous encounter. The disconcerting bounce and movement created by Marco Jansen (6 wickets from 5 games) is ably complemented by Umran’s (10 wickets from 7 games) 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.

In fact, the rub of the green has gone Hyderabad’s way in this particular season as it now has five consecutive wins from five games where it has chased targets after the bowlers intimidated the rival batting unit.

For Pandya though, his bowling unit is not inferior to Hyderabad as Mohammed Shami’s artistry (10 from 7 games) and Ferguson’s (9 wickets from 7 games) aggression has brought it a lot of success, not to forget Rashid Khan’s (8 wickets from 7 games) ability to be more than decent even in a quiet year by his standards.

However, one area where Titans needs to lift its game is Powerplay batting as Shubman Gill (207 from 7 games) has gone off the boil after the his 96 and Wriddhiman Saha, replacing Matthew Wade, has been downright mediocre.

The chink in Titans armoury is not having a quality keeper-batter for the format as Wade hasn’t really had a great time in the first five games.