An epic battle is on the cards between the world's top two ODI teams when India cross swords with three-time defending champions Australia in what promises to be a high-voltage quarterfinal of the World Cup on Thursday.

Games between these two arch-rivals have been bitterly fought in the last decade and Thursday's encounter is expected to be no different with neither expected to give an inch of space to the other.

Both teams have had a chequered run into the second stage of the competition and are also conscious of the fact that from here on there's no second chance to bounce back unlike in the group stage which is bound to create extra pressure and produce jangled nerves.

The outfit that handles the pressure-cooker situation calmly is bound to live and fight for another day in the tournament. The toss could be an important factor too as the dew factor may come into the picture in the second half of the match.

India, as well as Australia, have not really showed ruthless dominance in the run-up to the knock-out stage of the competition but while the home team seems to have picked up some momentum with the big victory over the West Indies in their previous game, the holders seem to have theirs arrested by the heavy loss to Pakistan.

But all that would be put in the back-burner in the make-or-break scenario at this textile city's huge arena in front of a sell-out crowd of 50,000 most of whom would be baying for the Aussies' blood.

Australia, the highest ranked ODI team in the world, have clearly lost that aura of invincibility even in this format after having been toppled from their high perch in the Test arena.

It took the unpredictable and highly talented set of Pakistanis to snap the holders' amazing 34-match undefeated run in the World Cup at Colombo last Saturday, but it can also act as the much-needed wake-up call for the Ricky Ponting-led team against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men. The Indians have got a big boost with Virender Sehwag expected to be fully fit for the game.

Dhoni and Co would certainly be fancying their chances of knocking the defending champions out of the tournament and stay in the hunt to bring back cricket's most coveted title to India after 28 years.