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Australia closed in on victory in the first Test, needing four more wickets to complete the win in Bangalore.

Rahul Dravid stood in their way, on 47 not out in a seventh wicket stand of 19 with Irfan Pathan, who reached seven.

After being bowled out for 228 in their second innings, the tourists soon reduced India to 19-4, with Glenn McGrath taking 2-9 in 12 overs.

Spinner Harbhajan Singh had earlier claimed 6-78 on a deteriorating pitch to total 11 wickets for the match.

Needing 457 to win - 39 more than has ever been made for victory in a Test fourth innings - India knew their only chance of avoiding defeat would be batting through four-and-a-half sessions.

And that chance diminished rapidly as batsmen made beelines back to the pavilion.

It's always great to get wickets, especially after I came back from my injury Harbhajan Singh Day four reaction

Sourav Ganguly was needlessly run out and both Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman were victims of dubious lbw decisions, one by each umpire.

Dravid, who arrived at the crease in the third over after umpire Billy Bowden failed to spot Sehwag's inside edge, had faced 145 balls by the close.

His stand with Pathan spanned 13.5 overs, with six of the tailender's runs coming in a single over from McGrath.

Wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist missed a chance to dismiss the India vice-captain on 16 when he barely got a glove to an edge off Shane Warne.

Yuvraj Singh settled into a partnership worth 62 with Dravid, McGrath breaking it with a classic away-swinger that tempted the left-hander to edge behind.

Harbhajan claimed his sixth five-for against Australia

First innings hero Parthiv Patel departed lbw sixth ball, taking Warne to within one wicket of tying Muttiah Muralitharan's career Test record of 532 scalps and raising hopes of a fourth day finish.

But the seventh wicket pair dug in to force Australia's fielders to return for more on Sunday morning.

On 127-4 overnight, the tourists would have liked to have had more runs to defend.

But Harbhajan stood in their way with his sixth consecutive five-wicket haul against Australia in India.

Each of the six wickets to fall came from catches close to the wicket - four of them at short leg - on a cracking pitch offering plenty of help for the slow bowlers.

Horrid day for India with reckless batting compounded by some bad umpiring From Allen Have your say on TMS

Gilchrist's dismissal to Anil Kumble for 26 just before lunch was the only success for a bowler other than Harbhajan.

It took nine overs for the first wicket to fall, Michael Clarke gloving to short leg, but they came in a steady trickle from then on as new batsmen struggled to settle.

Martyn was the top-scorer, adding 16 to his overnight 29 before his flick to short midwicket was collected by substitute Mohammad Kaif.

Warne provided a valuable 31, the majority of it in boundaries, to bolster the lower order, but at day's end India's batting proved similarly deep.

Australia: Adam Gilchrist (capt), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Simon Katich, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath. 12th man: Nathan Hauritz.

India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Akash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Venkatsai Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh. 12th man: Mohammad Kaif.