HOBART: Pakistan’s slim hopes of avoiding their fourth consecutive whitewash at the hands of Australia hinged almost entirely on inclement weather as they slipped to 103-4 while chasing an improbable target of 438 to win the third and final Test here on Sunday.

When bad light ended play on the fourth day, Pakistan were still trailing by 334 runs with the rampaging Aussies needing six more wickets to record their 12th consecutive win over the tourists.

Ricky Ponting’s decision to declare 15 minutes after lunch at 219-5 with a grand lead of 437 left Pakistan with a tough battle for survival. They needed to stay alive for almost five sessions of play or to get the required runs from a possible 147 overs.

The Australian captain declared after coming agonizingly close to becoming just the seventh man, and third Australian behind Doug Walters and Greg Chappell, to score a double-century and a hundred in the same Test. He followed a splendid 209 in the first innings with 89 before falling to Shoaib Malik.

But Simon Katich smashed an authoritative 100, his first since last summer, as the Australians ensured that Pakistan stayed under immense pressure by adding 160 more runs to their overnight total of 59-1 at a fast rate.

For Pakistan, any faint hopes of achieving a record run-chase vanished in thin air when pacers Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle removed Salman Butt (8) and Imran Farhat (14) inside the first ten overs before Shane Watson (2-24) trapped dangerman Mohammad Yousuf lbw for 23. The in-form all-rounder then scalped youngster Umar Akmal (15) to bring Pakistan down to their knees at 83-4 in the day’s final session and leaving them praying for the dark clouds hovering the horizon to burst open.

And it finally happened with a minimum of 22.4 overs still left to be bowled on the fourth day. It had been drizzling for a while but the umpires were finally forced to suspend play when it started raining heavily. Khurram Manzoor, who fell for a duck in the first innings, survived some anxious moments to inch to 23 off 86 balls while Malik was unbeaten at 18 off 30 balls.

There is light rain on the forecast for Monday but it might not affect the outcome of the match as the Aussies are expected to get plenty of time to take the last six Pakistani wickets.

Australia, who had dominated in their Melbourne Test win but only won in Sydney thanks to the erratic Pakistanis, were ruthless at the start of the fourth day as Ponting and Katich added 141 runs to the total before lunch from 28 overs, scoring at a rate of about five an over. Aamer came close to getting the prized scalp of Ponting when the pacer thought he had drawn an edge behind from the Aussie captain. But the umpire said not out and the Pakistanis decided to refer it. The decision was upheld after a number of replays.

Katich, meanwhile, was in great touch as he effortlessly raced to his ninth Test ton which came off just 137 balls after a little more than a three-hour stay on the wicket, hitting 13 fours. But he fell on the next ball he faced, trying to pull Kaneria over mid-wicket only to hand Malik a simple catch. The Aussies took lunch at 200-5.

Ponting returned for the second session at 88 looking for yet another batting landmark. But he could add only one more to his total before being gloved by Sarfraz Ahmed off the bowling of Malik while going for a sweep. Ponting’s 89 came off 122 balls and included 12 hits to the fence.

Australia sent Brad Haddin and later Mitchell Johnson for some quick runs but the pinch-hitters were unable to do the job. Haddin hit a six before Aamer ran him out with a direct throw while Johnson fell for a naught, trying to drive Malik over cover. The back-to-back dismissals forced Ponting to opt for an early declaration.

Even on what is still quite a flat Bellerive Oval pitch, Bollinger cleaned up Pakistan never looked comfortable especially after Butt, who hit a ton in the first innings, in the fifth over. There was no respite for Pakistan as Farhat fell five overs later.

The biggest blow for Pakistan came when Yousuf, who had looked in great form during a 28-ball 23 with five fours, was outdone by a Watson delivery that came in. The Pakistan captain referred the decision but replays showed he was out. Umar followed his captain back to the dressing room, also falling lbw to Watson for 15.