Australia were set 78 runs to win the second Test and wrap up their series with the West Indies after an unexpected fightback from the tourists on Sunday.
The Australians dismissed the embattled West Indies for 334 on the final ball of the fourth day to leave themselves a full day to clinch an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-game series following their 379 run win in Brisbane two weeks ago.
The match looked certain to finish on the fourth day when the tourists slumped to 140-6 before lunch, needing to make at least 257 just to make the Australians bat again, when Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin led an unlikely comeback.
Bravo scored a brilliant 113 while Ramdin made 71 as the pair piled on 182 runs for the seventh-wicket, the second highest seventh-wicket partnership by any West Indian pair and the highest by any combination at Hobart's Bellerive Oval.
They withstood the Australian bowlers for almost two sessions with a mixture of defiance and aggression but lost their wickets after tea, triggering a late collapse that left the home team on the verge of victory.
Shane Warne captured four wickets, including the last batsman on the final ball of the day, while Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee grabbed two each.
West Indies had started the day on 82-4 and were soon in deep trouble when Warne dismissed Brian Lara for 45 then Marlon Samuels for 29 in his next over.
HIGHEST SCORES
However, Bravo and Ramdin held the fort for nearly four hours, batting through the entire middle session, as both men registered their highest test scores.
Bravo had a lucky escape on 46 when Brad Hodge failed to hold a difficult catch at square-leg but was otherwise untroubled.
The 22-year-old from Trinidad reached his second test hundred off 153 balls when he smacked a full-toss from MacGill to the boundary then passed his previous high score of 107, made in his last Test against South Africa, before Warne bowled him round his legs.
Ramdin, playing in just his fourth Test, bettered his previous top score of 56 with a controlled display of batting, hitting six boundaries off 190 balls, before nicking a catch off MacGill to Warne at slip.
West Indies lost their last four wickets for 12 runs with Warne mopping up the last two to finish with 4-112 and take his tally this year to 77, just eight short of fellow Australian Dennis Lillee's world record for the most in a calendar year.
He had Lara caught behind by wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, although television replays suggested the West Indian did not hit the ball, then removed Samuels, who batted with a runner after injuring his leg, caught by Hodge at short-leg in the morning.
Scoreboard
West Indies (1st innings): 149 (C. Gayle 56; G. McGrath 4-31)
Australia (1st innings): 406 (M. Hussey 137, M. Hayden 110, B. Hodge 60)
West Indies (2nd innings): (Overnight: 82-4)
C. Gayle b McGrath 4
D. Smith c Ponting b McGrath 8
R. Sarwan c Gilchrist b Lee 32
B. Lara c Gilchrist b Warne 45
S. Chanderpaul c Gilchrist b Lee 10
M. Samuels c Hodge b Warne 29
D. Bravo b Warne 113
D. Ramdin c Warne b MacGill 71
D. Powell lbw b MacGill 0
F. Edwards not out 2
C. Collymore c Gilchrist b Warne 0
Extras: (b-4 lb-12 nb-3 w-1) 20
Total: (all out, 122 overs) 334
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-27, 3-62, 4-76, 5-133, 6-140, 7-322, 8-326, 9-332, 10-334.
Bowling: G. McGrath 25-13-29-2, B. Lee 27-4-99-2 (nb-3), A. Symonds 5-1-9-0, S. Warne 39-4-112-4, S. MacGill 26-4-69-2 (w-1).
