Sachin, Ponting set for final duel

AHMEDABAD (Agencies) - The quarterfinal clash between Australia and India, on Thursday, is not only about who stays in the hunt for the title but also about two of game's modern day greats Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting squaring off in a World Cup game for what appears to be one last time. The two ageing warriors would like to stamp their superiority and propel their side to the last four-stage on March 24 at Motera's Sardar Patel Stadium. Neither of the two is expected to be around in 2015 when the next edition is scheduled to be held Down Under. In the previous meeting between the two sides in the World Cup, that took place in the summit clash of the 2003 edition in Johannesburg, Ponting came out trumps with his unbeaten 140, in only 121 balls with a staggering eight sixes and 4 fours, had propelled Australia to an imposing 359 for two. Chasing the huge Australian total, Tendulkar could score only 4 and despite Virender Sehwag's run-a-ball 82, India fell well short of the target and Australia walked away with cricket's most coveted prize for the second edition running. On Thursday, in front of a vociferous 50,000-strong crowd, the Indian master has the chance to make ample amends for what happened eight years ago and also step into the record books as the first batsman to have scored 100 centuries combined in both forms of cricket - Tests and ODIs. Tendulkar has had a very good tournament individually, with superbly crafted tons against England and South Africa at the league stage. Ponting, on the other hand, has had a horrendous run with the bat. In six matches, has mustered a miserly 102 runs with 36 being his best effort at a poor average of 20.40, less than half his 358-match career average. Ponting's ODI average in India against the hosts is also an impressive 44.86 from 24 games, but the second and last of his two hundreds in this country was notched eight years ago in Bangalore. Hussey brushed aside reports in Australia that Ponting's captaincy was at stake, at a media conference here today and said the entire team was backing the struggling skipper. "No worries at all. He has been fantastic, best man for the job and has been for a long time. He's certainly got the full support of all team members," Hussey said. In five duels against Australia in World Cups, Tendulkar's best effort thus far has been a splendid innings of 90 in a league game at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium in 1996, and his average against them is a modest 28.20 spread over four World Cups. Thursday's match provides both these stalwarts, among the all-time great batsmen in the game, a last chance to impose their stature in head-to-head battles in the premier ODI tournament. Michael Hussey feels Australia still have the necessary firepower to knock pre-tournament favourites India out of the World Cup. "I don't really care about general perception that Australia is no longer unbeatable. We have done particularly well in the sub-continent over the last few years and won quite a few series here. "We go into this game with a lot of confidence because we have played well against India in Indian conditions in the last few years and I think we have a great chance," Hussey told. Australia's 34-match winning streak in the tournament dating back to 1999 was snapped by Pakistan, who won their concluding Group A league clash in Colombo on Saturday, but Hussey was optimistic about his team's chances and take that confidence further to retain their title. "This is a huge game for us. We believe if we beat India we will have a great chance to go on to win the tournament," he said. "It's going to be a tight game and put pressure on the Indians. We have to really go hard and get as many runs and put the Indian fielders under pressure," said Hussey. Hussey warned the Indian batsmen to expect short stuff from his team's three-pronged pace attack.