West Indies captain Brian Lara hit a 50 to give his team a glimmer of hope in the second Test on Tuesday after Australia had set them 407 to win the match.
West Indies' fate was firmly on the shoulders of the 33-year-old lefthander after fast bowler Jason Gillespie rocked them with two quick wickets on the fourth day.
Gillespie took two for ten in seven overs as he removed Devon Smith and first innings century-maker Daren Ganga in quick succession.
Lara responded well to the challenge, making an unbeaten 52 as he and opener Wavell Hinds took the score from 12 for two to 107 for three at the close on the fourth day.
Lara, slowed by the Australian spinners, needed 75 balls to made his 50, which included seven fours. Hinds was out for 35 one over before the close when he deflected a Stuart MacGill delivery on to his wicket.
Australia declared at 238-3 just before tea after Matthew Hayden reached his century, while Darren Lehman followed up his first innings 160 with a quick, powerful 66.
Having toiled in the field, West Indies were quickly in trouble as Smith was trapped lbw for naught by Gillespie in the second over, bagging a pair of ducks in only his second Test.
Ganga, a hero on Monday when he became the first Trinidadian to make a century on his home ground since Larry Gomes in 1983, followed in the eighth over when he got an outside edge to Gillespie and was caught by Hayden at first slip.
With Hinds living dangerously and Lara enjoying a let-off on six, when Brett Lee dropped a chance for caught and bowled, the home team were teetering.
Ineffective Attack
Earlier, Hayden, whose best previous score in the series was 30, batted through the entire Australian innings.
He reached his hundred in 274 minutes, receiving 180 balls and hitting ten fours and completing his 13th Test century by taking a quick single of Marlon Samuels shortly before Australia declared.
The West Indies' ineffective three-man attack once again suffered at the hands of the Australian batsmen, taking only seven wickets in the entire match at a cost of 814 runs as the tourists declared in both innings.
They were not helped by yet more erratic fielding as Lehmann was dropped on 20 after offering a simple catch to Hinds at point off Vasbert Drakes.
Lehmann, who had several escapes in the first innings and went on to make 160, again made the home team pay dearly for the let-off.
He hit a four off the next ball and went on to complete his 50 by lofting his second six of the innings over the long on fence.
Lehmann also hit six fours, including two meaty drives straight past the bowler, and faced 82 balls as he completed his half- century. He went on to make 66 before being yorked by Mervyn Dillon, prompting captain Steve Waugh to declare.
Australia, resuming on 31 for one, made a steady start as Lara set a defensive field to try and keep the Australia run rate down.
Hayden survived two lbw shouts from Dillon, the pick of the West Indies bowlers. TV replays suggested that both were missing the leg stump.
Vice-captain Ricky Ponting, who scored his first Test double century in the first innings, was the only victim of the morning session when he edged Dillon outside the leg stump and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh.
