Stage set for a miracle

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is still there for West Indies and he will need to hang around for a long time if they are to pull off a miraculous victory © Getty Images

The last time West Indies beat Australia in a Test match, back in 2003, they needed a world record total of 418 to do it. Five years on, they need another 240 runs to reach another world record total of 475 if they are to win the third and final Test and square the series.

The way they raced to 235-3 on day four was mightily impressive and though a lot of it is down to the way the pitch in Bridgetown has flattened out, they still batted very well to at least give themselves hope.

That said, everything depends on how long Shivnarine Chanderpaul and dwayne Bravo hang around. The West Indies tail is pretty long and if they do not stay together for the first session, the hosts will be in big trouble and Australia will rip into them.

The bookies are taking no chances, though. Australia are now 1/5 (1.20) with bet365, having started day four as 1/14. West Indies have been slashed to 5/1, while the draw is 12/1.

If they lose early wickets, I just can't see West Indies batting out a day to force a draw - the time left is enough to get 240 no matter what, but Australia will be confident, with just seven wickets to fall.

For the record, the last time West Indies beat Australia in Bridgetown was in 1999, when another great run-chase - when Brian Lara and Courtney Walsh hung on for victory, saw them home. The series was alive, at the time, though Australia were 2-0 up with two to play.

Their recent record in Bridgetown does not bode too well, though, as they have lost four of the past five there, even if they did win the most recent one, against Pakistan in 2005.