On the back of four victories in a row, including one against the mighty South African side, Pakistan recovered from two defeats to make the knockout stage.

Misbah-ul-haq has played a pivotal role in their resurrection with his superlative batting effort and the skipper now has the biggest challenge of the tournament before him as they run into host Australia, whom they have not beaten in their own den since their win at Perth in 2005.

Odds are heavily stacked against the Asian nation as they have lost their last seven away matches against Australia.

However, Pakistan being an unpredictable side can upset the Australia applecart if their bowlers do the job.

In the eight World Cup encounters, the two teams have won four matches each and in the last contest it was Pakistan which emerged triumphant in Colombo in the 2011 edition.

Australia coach Darren Lehmann hoped that the players would put up a better show as the big stage has arrived.

“There will be no excuses for us from here. We just need to keep playing the brand of cricket we have been for most of this tournament. It’s really just about keeping the players sharp and on the ball and that’s something they have shown they are fantastic at,” The Hindu reported quoting Lehmann.

“They are a great bunch of learners and listeners who are always trying to improve their game,” he added.

Teams (from):

Australia: Michael Clarke (C), George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Shane Watson.

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil, Haris Sohail, Nasir Jamshed, Rahat Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, and Younis Khan.