Win or go home: Karachi, Islamabad clash to decide who stays alive in PSL 2019.

Byline: Syed Hammad Hasnain

Defending champions Islamabad United take on hometown favourites Karachi Kings tonight in the first Eliminator of Pakistan Super League 2019 at the National Stadium Karachi.

The equation is simple for both the sides: win or go home, which for the Kings only hold proverbial value as they are already in their home city.

However, it remains to be seen if home turf would actually net the Kings any tangible advantage because it probably didn't in their slim, one-run win over Quetta last week and certainly didn't in the 61-run drubbing they suffered at the hands of Peshawar Zalmi the next game.

Head to head

During the group stages, both Islamabad and Karachi won five games each and were solidly average. They were better than the bottom two but not quite as good as the top two.

While that piece of stat insinuates some parity between the two sides, the head-to-head comparison somewhat deflates the notion.

Islamabad won both the league fixtures against Karachi in the group stages, although in Karachi's defence, both the games went down to the wire.

Overall, the two sides have faced each other 11 times across the four PSL tournaments, with Islamabad winning seven and Karachi four. Moreover, United are riding a three-match winning streak against the Kings dating back to last year's tournament.

The Danger men

Luke Ronchi has not matched his scintillating form of 2018 form this year but he can still come do a job. The NSK boundaries have been extended but if Ronchi gets going, he can easily clear any boundary no matter how far.

Trouble for the Kings is that they won't have to just look out for Ronchi. His strike partner Cameron Delport also was in devastating form last time out, smashing an...