Australia is aiming to quickly finish off the Bangladesh second innings in the first cricket Test at Dhaka's Fatullah Stadium.

The touring team still faces a mammoth task to avoid defeat against the Tigers when play resumes on day four.

The home side is 5-124, a lead of 282 runs, on a testing deck with Rajin Saleh (29no) and Khaled Mashud (0no) at the crease.

The combination of Adam Gilchrist's brilliant knock of 144 and some improved bowling from the Australian attack kept the tourists in with an outside chance of victory.

"The way they played was pretty outstanding, you have got to give credit to the Bangladeshis, they had nothing to lose coming into this match," said Australian paceman Brett Lee.

"We knew they were going to be tough.

"I think it took us a while to get our engines going but today the way Gilly batted got us back into the game.

"We now have our tails up and want to finish them pretty quickly."

Lee spent time off the field late on day three but said he was suffering from nothing more than blisters.

"It is blisters, a typical fast bowler's problem ... I had them fixed up and came back no problem there, I am 100 per cent," he said.

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