JASON Gillespie produced a bail-clipping nip-back ball to non-plus Brian Lara and leave the West Indies facing another monumental defeat as Australia applied yet more pressure in the fourth Test at Melbourne.

Lara offered no shot to a ball that looked certain to go wide of off-stump.

But paceman Gillespie got it to come back off the seam and bowl the Trinidadian for a duck to leave the Windies seemingly down and out at stumps on day three, needing an improbable 462 for victory and reeling on ten for three.

The Australians, already 3-0 up in the series, are closing in on a 14th consecutive Test victory and a 5-0 whitewash of the tourists.

Lara's dismissal completed another calamitous start for the Windies batsmen, with Daren Ganga and Wavell Hinds also departing in the 11 tense overs to stumps.

All the wickets fell to Gillespie, who had Ganga lbw in his first over and Hinds caught by Andy Bichel in the seven-man slips cordon in his second over.

He picked up the prized Lara scalp with the fifth ball of his third over to have figures of three for five in 16 balls as the tourists tottered at seven for three.

At the close, Windies vice-captain Sherwin Campbell was unbeaten on nought after 50 minutes batting and nightwatchman Colin Stuart survived the final over from off-spinner Colin Miller.

Aussie captain Steve Waugh earlier called a halt to his side's accumulation of runs after Ricky Ponting had plundered 21 from Stuart's final over.

Building on a mammoth 199-run first-innings lead, Australia declared at 262 for five to set the hapless tourists the task of defying history to get anywhere near the target.

Mark Waugh remained unbeaten on 78 and Ponting hit 26 off 24 balls. Justin Langer top-scored with 80 before he was snapped up by Ganga at slip off his captain and left-arm spinner Jimmy Adams in the final over before tea.

Langer and Mark Waugh put on 116 runs for the third wicket in 139 minutes to ram home Australia's advantage.

Almost an hour's play was lost to rain in the morning session, during which the Australians lost only opener Michael Slater.

He fell to an edge to Lara at first slip off Mervyn Dillon for four in the second over of the innings, leaving his side eight for one. Hinds, who dropped Matthew Hayden on 24, was relieved to take a skied catch at square leg to dismiss the same player for 30 off Nixon McLean.