Australia's world champion cricketers held back their renowned aggression in a curious attempt to sink New Zealand's morale and "dig a grave" for the tourists at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia tormented the Adelaide fans by edging towards a Trans-Tasman whitewash on a slow-moving fourth day of the second Test, leaving the wounded tourists 5-149 at stumps as they chased an improbable 464 for victory.

The home side's top-order took a puzzling approach to their second innings on batting for 56 overs, including four overs for four runs after lunch, to declare at 2-139.

With rain forecast for the fifth day, the two-and-a-half hours taken to score a mere 82 has given the Black Caps some slim hope of escaping with an unlikely draw.

The tourists were certainly surprised by the ultra-conservative batting by the much vaunted home top four that came at a slow run-rate of 2.28.

Australia appeared to be the team playing for a draw as self-preservation rather than haste seemed the priority for 36 overs. But any concerns the post-lunch declaration came too late were answered when its in-form bowlers took four wickets before tea.

Australian coach John Buchanan backed the timing of the declaration and the batting, hinting psychological scarring had been a prime reason in the approach.

"It depends how you view how a declaration should be made," he said. "It doesn't mean that because you make a declaration you should be hitting the ball over the boundary."

Ponting's declaration came two balls after he was heckled by a member of the crowd and responded by waving his bat as though he'd brought up a milestone.

"When a declaration is made it is about not only you're own strategic position in the game, but also trying to make some assessment of the opposition," Buchanan said.

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