In-form Pakistan eye a magical World Cup victory over favourites Australia
With history in their favour, the hosts face Misbah's men who are determined to create an upset result in their quarter-final
Misbah-ul-Haq's men are determined to replicate the success of their predecessors under Imran Khan who won the tournament Down Under in 1992 - and their paths bear an uncanny similarity.
Imran's team won just one of their first five matches, but bounced back to win the next five, including the final against England by 22 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
We need to keep the momentum going. Just need to play well on the day
This time, Pakistan lost their opening two games against arch-rivals India and the West Indies before resurrecting their campaign with four straight wins to make the knockout round.
On the way, they triumphed over mighty South Africa at Auckland, bowling AB de Villiers' side for 202 after being dismissed for 222.
As Pakistan prepared to face their biggest challenge in the tournament - playing Australia on their own turf - Misbah hoped the momentum gained over the past two weeks will see Pakistan through.
But Misbah will be heartened by Pakistan's gutsy display against the Aussies in World Cup matches, where both sides have won four matches each in eight encounters.
In the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan beat Australia by four wickets in Colombo, making veteran all-rounder Shane Watson wary of what awaited his team on Friday.
"We know this is a danger game for us because they (Pakistan) can come on and just turn it on like they have throughout the times I've played them in the past," said Watson.
Pakistan, already without key players Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan, suffered a major blow on Tuesday when giant fast bowler Mohammad Irfan was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a stress fracture in the hip.
Having thrashed old foes England by 111 runs at the MCG in their opening match, Australia were forced to share points with Bangladesh in a Brisbane wash-out, before a spectacular batting collapse saw them lose to New Zealand in Auckland.
In their other game against a major side, Australia rode on a Glenn Maxwell century to pile up 376 for nine against Sri Lanka in Sydney before quashing a spirited reply to win by 64 runs.
We know this is a danger game for us because [Pakistan] can come on and just turn it on
Coach Darren Lehmann said the time to build on the progress so far had come.
"There will be no excuses for us from here," Lehmann wrote on Cricket Australia's official website.
"We just need to keep playing the brand of cricket we have been for most of this tournament and, to be fair, for most of this summer as well.
