He's been the quiet achiever of the Australian attack but Peter Siddle's name is ringing in the ears of Kevin Pietersen.

While Mitchell Johnson has won the plaudits for his violent spells in this series, the Australians have taken a more subtle approach against the dangerous Pietersen.

Rather than provoke him, they have tried to bore him into getting out. It helps that Michael Clarke has on his team the bowler who has conquered Pietersen more times than anyone in the world, and Siddle continued the pattern in the second innings at Adelaide.

Pietersen had made a relatively restrained half-century, breaking the shackles only to smash the part-time leg spin of Steve Smith into the stands.

Siddle has only taken five wickets in the series so far but he and Ryan Harris have played a crucial role at the other end while Johnson performs the fireworks. Having coaxed Pietersen into the mid-wicket trap in the first innings, this time he teased him with a ball that nipped back slightly and took the inside edge on its way into the stumps.

He has now captured Pietersen's wicket nine times in Test cricket, more than Brett Lee and Muttiah Muralitharan, who have dismissed him six times each.

"I guess I just love the challenge of bowling against a player of his experience and talent. He's been a star player of Test cricket and I just enjoy it. I try to keep it patient, I've been lucky enough to get a few chop-ons, that always helps.

"I'm happy with how I'm bowling and as a unit we're bowling strong. Mitch has had all the success up until now but I think it's been the work from [the rest of the attack] has built that pressure up and he's got the wickets. It makes a lot easier if we're building the pressure and he can come on in short bursts and have a crack at them. That's the plan we want to go with and it's working for us."

Michael Clarke surprised his own bowlers by declaring before play, conscious of the showers forecast for Adelaide. With four wickets needed for victory, a lead of 284 and a possible storm predicted for Monday, the Australians will be eager to strike with the new ball.

"We loosened up a little bit knowing we had to bowl some time in the morning, and he ended up saying, 'Let's just get stuck in straight away.' It didn't worry us too much. We were confident with the runs we had on the board, we knew it was going to be tough," Siddle said.

"The big factor is going to be the new ball. There was a little bit of swing around this afternoon and hopefully a little bit more tomorrow morning. The bounce has been playing up a bit; that is going to help us a bit. We want to get these four wickets as soon as we can."