Big picture
On the one side is the muscle of Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, on the other the precision and reliability of Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and Lockie Ferguson.
Welcome to Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans, a battle that could, even with more than three-fourths of the season still remaining, turn out to be the tastiest of this IPL - a proper T20 side full of big hitters against an attack boasting pace, seam, swing, spin and variations.
Kings boast the highest powerplay run rate of all teams this season - 10.94 - and Titans the best bowling average - 10.71 - and the second-best economy rate - 6.25 - in the same phase.
Titans are unbeaten after two matches, having won their first game while chasing and the second while defending a total. Both wins were both hard-fought, and they've found a different hero every time they've needed one so far.
Kings have endured a more eventful ride - they hunted down 206 with an over to spare against Royal Challengers Bangalore; then their ultra-aggressive batting approach came unstuck against Kolkata Knight Riders; and then they defended 181 Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne Stadium, where they play Titans in their fourth fixture.
Friday's clash, then, might pit the most fearsome hitting team in the league against its most incisive bowling attack. Who will come out of it unscathed?
In the news
A niggle restricted Varun Aaron to just one over in Titans' last match against Delhi Capitals. In case he hasn't recovered, the team could replace him with Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal or Pradeep Sangwan, the latter two of whom offer a left-arm option.
Likely XIs
Punjab Kings: 1 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Shahrukh Khan, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Odean Smith, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Rahul Chahar, 11 Vaibhav Arora.
Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Varun Aaron/Yash Dayal/Darshan Nalkande/Pradeep Sangwan, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami.
Strategy punt
Titans' new-ball spearhead Shami has had a difficult time against Kings opener Shikhar Dhawan in T20s. Across 11 innings and 66 balls, Dhawan has taken him for 103 runs without being dismissed. Mayank Agarwal, meanwhile, has only ever faced three balls from Shami. Agarwal has taken first strike in all three of Kings' matches so far; on Friday, there might be a case for Dhawan to take strike instead, assuming Shami bowls the first over, to try and maximise his favourable match-up.
Shubman Gill has faced 21 balls of spin this season, and scored 45 runs off them, without being dismissed - which translates to a strike rate of 214.28. Three are three spinners who have got him out twice each - the most - in IPL. Rahul Chahar, however, has dismissed Gill twice in three innings in the IPL, so there could still be a case for Kings to use their legspinner early on as an attacking gamble.
Stats that matter
Kings have smashed 33 sixes so far this season, the second-most behind Rajasthan Royals' 36. Meanwhile, the opposition captain Hardik Pandya is just one away from 100 IPL sixes.
Shami will be up against one of his former IPL sides, having represented Kings for three seasons from 2019 onwards, when he took 58 wickets at 22.82 for them.
From IPL 2017-20, Ferguson managed only three wickets in 83 balls while conceding 10.98 runs an over at the death. Since 2021, his record in the last four overs has improved dramatically: five wickets in 60 balls and an economy rate of 8.70.
