Western Australia scent victory

Victoria 297 (McDonald 85) and 1 for 133 (Mash 71*, Hussey 39*) trail Western Australia 3 for 608 dec by 178 runs
Scorecard

Western Australia continued their dominance over Victoria on the third day at Perth. After taking a first-innings lead of 311 and enforcing the follow-on, Victoria fared slightly better in their second dig, reaching the close on 1 for 133, still 178 in arrears.

Resuming on 4 for 146, Victoria quickly lost their captain Cameron White, who only added a further 12 runs to his overnight 51. And though Adam Crosthwaite (18) hung around for nearly an hour - Shane Warne also crashed a bullish 17 in a frenetic 20 minutes - Victoria limped to 7 for 245 at lunch.

They recovered slightly in the afternoon, Andrew McDonald leading the rearguard with 85, including 11 fours, before he became Brett Dorey's second wicket. With McDonald gone, Victoria's tail then folded limply with Aaron Heal picking up four of the final five wickets to finish with 4 for 48.

Heal and Marcus North both gained significant turn on what is a low and slow wicket, and Heal was the surprise package. Playing in just his third first-class game for the state, he grew in confidence and tossed the ball up. Heal was only given the opportunity to play for Western Australia following Beau Casson's switch to New South Wales in the off-season.

Victoria did their best to make amends with the bat second time round. Lloyd Mash and David Hussey batted sensibly and enterprisingly to give the visitors some hope of salvaging a draw going into the final day.

It wasn't a day to remember for Victoria off the field either. Trudging off after a poor shot led to his downfall, Warne was accosted by a television journalist keen on exploring more about the rumours of he and his ex-wife Simone reuniting. Victoria filed a complaint to the television company immediately, but the incident did nothing to lift their mood.