The left-handed opener followed up his hundred from last week’s first Test win in Melbourne with a stylish 123 to guide Australia to 282 for four at stumps in their second innings.

Mike Hussey was also closing in on a century after ending the fourth day unbeaten on 87 with all-rounder Andrew Symonds on 14 and Australia 213 runs ahead after trailing by 69 on the first innings.

The pair accepted an offer to go off early for bad light but Hayden said they would try and push for a result today with the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch starting to break up.

“We’re in there with a shot which is great. The wicket is starting to turn so it’s getting hard to score quickly now,” Hayden told a news conference.

“We want to try and win the Test match and I think we are capable of doing it...there’s no doubt about that.”

Australia started the day on 13-0 and looking to score quick runs in the hope of pushing for a victory to equal their own world record of 16 consecutive Test wins.

But their chances suffered a setback when they lost two wickets before lunch and two after tea while play was delayed three times because of rain. A draw is now looming as the most likely result with more showers forecast today and just one day remaining. “We’ll just see how it goes. It depends on how both teams play tomorrow,” Souruv Ganguly said.

“It’s still a good wicket. There is a bit of turn, but nothing dangerous.

“I don’t know what Ricky Ponting is going to think. It’ll depend on how they bat tomorrow morning. It’ll be up to him.”

Hayden batted with a runner for most of his innings after injuring his right thigh but the problem did not effect his hitting power.

The Queenslander raced to his hundred off 160 balls and cracked a dozen boundaries in his 291-minute before he was caught by Wasim Jaffer off Anil Kumble in the last session. Kumble then dismissed Michael Clarke for a golden duck when he found the edge and Rahul Dravid held a sharp catch at slip.

Hussey was dropped by Yuvraj Singh on 41 on the last ball of the morning session and made the Indians pay for their mistake by cruising past his half-century and sharing a 160-run partnership with Hayden.

The pair had come together early in the day after opener Phil Jaques departed for 42 and Ponting fell for one.

Jaques put on 85 with Hayden for the opening wicket but threw his wicket away when he holed out to Yuvraj in the deep off Kumble. Ponting was caught by Vangipurappu Laxman at silly point off the bowling of Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The Indian leg spinner has dismissed the Australian captain eight times in eight Tests and celebrated his latest success in boisterous fashion with an animated sprint towards the dressing rooms.