KARACHI: Islamabad United hope their better record will help them thwart the challenge Karachi Kings pose on their home turf when the two teams meet in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 Eliminator 1 at the National Stadium on Thursday.

Thursday’s winner will meet the losing side from Wednesday’s match between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in Eliminator 2 on Friday, with the winner qualifying for the sell-out 17 March final.

Islamabad, winners in 2016 and 2018, were equal on points with their rivals in the league phase with 10 in as many games and finished ahead of Karachi on better net run-rate according the information available here on Wednesday.

On their way to the title in the first PSL edition in 2016, Islamabad had beaten Karachi in the Eliminator by a convincing nine-wicket margin when Brad Haddin (52 not out) and Luke Ronchi (50 not out) helped them chase down a modest target of 111.

But, Karachi reversed the result in 2017 when the two teams again met in the Eliminator, beating Islamabad by 44 runs at the back of some superb bowling by Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Usama Mir all taking three wickets.

Islamabad again had the better of Karachi in the third edition on their way to the title, winning by eight wickets. Ronchi once again was Karachi’s nemesis, by scoring a whirlwind 94.

In 2019, Islamabad have proved a better batting and bowling unit as they beat Karachi by seven and five wickets respectively in the two league matches.

However, Islamabad captain Mohammad Sami feels it will be a new match on a new day on Thursday.

“We have done well in the league phase, but there are no advantages because come Thursday it will be a new match for both the teams,” said Sami, who took a hat-trick against Peshawar Zalmi in the league phase.

Sami leads a strong pace attack, which also comprise Faheem Ashraf (19 wickets) and Rumman Raees (seven wickets), besides the youthful exuberance of Musa Khan and Ammad Butt.

In Shadab Khan and Samit Patel, Islamabad have two good spinners who can check the flow of runs and also claim crucial wickets.

Ronchi with 297 runs at a strike rate of 158.82 is Islamabad’s leading run-scorer and always comes good against Karachi. Asif Ali also poses danger in the middle-order as he can be effective in the slog overs.

Karachi is also shaping up well with time and before home fans. They had the better of Quetta in the last-ball thriller by one-run before going down to Peshawar in the last league game to finish fourth.

Karachi skipper Imad Wasim hopes his team catches Islamabad napping.

“We are looking forward to play against Islamabad. We have had a lot of good battles against them and they have obviously won a lot of games against us,” This time around, we think it’s our time and we are hopeful to win this match,” said Imad, who hopes fans come to support in big numbers.

“My message is to come and support us in the last two matches and we will not disappoint you,” said Imad.

Karachi will hope Colin Ingram, Babar Azam (293 runs in 10 matches) and Liam Livingstone (291 runs) lift them to a good total and hope their spin-cum pace attack stops Islamabad. Left-arm spinner Umar Khan has been a revelation for Karachi, having taken 13 wickets in the league phase.

The pace attack comprising of Mohammad Amir (12 wickets) and Usman Shinwari (12) is also getting better results with each match.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2019