England's hopes of levelling the Ashes series were kept alive thanks to Joe Root who claimed the only wicket on the fourth day at Old Trafford.
Only 30 overs were played during a rainy afternoon as Australia finished 61 runs behind on 214 for five.
With the forecast promising more rain for the fifth and final day, England badly needed to make inroads but hit a brick wall as Marnus Labuschagne converted his overnight 44 into a vital 111.
Labuschagne has endured a lean series by his own high standards but stepped up to edge them closer to the draw that would guarantee the urn.
At 2-1 down England simply have to find a way through the showers to square the ledger and force a decider at the Oval next week.
Labuschagne shared a 103-run stand with Mitch Marsh as the duo threatened to shut the door completely.
Indeed, had he finished not out things would have been even more precarious, but Root made the most of an unexpected role with the ball to land an important blow.
England were only using their part-time spinner due to bad light, with the umpires deciding that the visibility had deteriorated too much for the seamers to operate, but his unpredictable style added a new threat to an attack that had fallen flat in tricky conditions.
England's pace unit had already been neutralised by the damp outfield, which softened up the ball and wrecked their chances of getting it to swing.
With first-choice spinner Moeen Ali looking out-of-sorts as he struggled to find any rhythm, Root took it upon himself to press the issue.
He served up a variety of different deliveries, getting some to kick and holding others back to gain drift.
He almost had Labuschagne on 93 when he sent one down seam up and shaped it away, but a thick edge sailed hard and fast past Zak Crawley at slip.
Labuschagne landed blows of his own, launching Root for two sixes over wide long-on, and made his way to three figures for just the second time on foreign soil and the 11th overall.
There were just four overs left when Labuschagne stepped back in his crease and shaped to cut Root on a tight line around off stump.
Jonny Bairstow did well to hold the edge, parrying it up initially but gathering safely, with the batter's unsuccessful call for DRS earning him an extra send-off from a crowd who had waited all day for something to celebrate.
He left Marsh to carry on the fight with 31 from 107 deliveries, a watchful knock that saw him shelve his natural attacking instincts.
Root mustered a half-chance against the all-rounder late on, but Harry Brook was unable to grab a fiercely tricky one-handed catch at short-leg.
With Cameron Green joining Marsh at the crease, Australia will feel they have enough to withstand whatever England can throw at them on day five and perhaps creep into a lead of their own.
England's seamers had a tough time of it, with the quartet of James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Stuart Broad labouring without luck before being withdrawn by the officials.
With no real demons in the pitch, precious little sign of low bounce and a ball that died a little every time it was stroked into the wet grass, it took Wood's pace to conjure anything out of the ordinary.
He cranked it up to 93mph in a bid to take conditions out of the equation, but the closest he came to making it tell was a nasty blow to Labuschagne's finger.
