Western Australia 244 and 119 for 6 (Inglis 45, Bancroft 42*, O'Neill 3-30) lead Victoria 144 (Short 53, Gannon 5-42) by 219 runs

Victoria's attack hit back against Western Australia late on a dramatic day two as the fight for a spot in the Sheffield Shield final intensified.

In what has been a see-saw contest with so much at stake, 15 wickets fell in the day's play in tough batting conditions at Junction Oval.

Inglis fell for 45 near the close, but Bancroft held firm with a gutsy unbeaten 42 off 151 balls to stretch WA's lead to 219 runs.

With top-placed Tasmania in a major battle against South Australia in the concurrent fixture, WA could leapfrog them with victory and clinch a home final starting on March 21.

Tasmania have already secured a place in the five-day decider and they will play either Victoria or WA, who only need a draw to get through.

Victoria fought back well after their batting order wilted to be bowled out in 43 overs as their bid for a third straight final's appearance nosedived.

Having overlooked spinning allrounder Ashton Agar, who has been unable to squeeze into the Shield line-up this season, WA were vindicated with their quartet of seamers menacing on a green-tinged surface marked by widening divots.

WA were ignited by a spectacular one-handed catch from wicketkeeper Inglis, who dove low to his left to remove Marcus Harris for 17. Paris then took over with the wickets of Campbell Kellaway and Peter Handscomb in successive overs.

Skipper Will Sutherland tried to play aggressively, but fell into an awkward position to miss-hit a short-pitched Haskett delivery to fine-leg. Perry's 95-ball rearguard ended tamely when he hit Haskett straight to square leg as Victoria's lower-order offered little resistance.

Without injured frontline quicks Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Matt Kelly, WA's deep pace stocks have been underlined by the strong performances of Gannon and Haskett, who combined for eight wickets.

WA's collapse continued when Perry had Aaron Hardie caught at second slip with a cracking delivery that bounced sharply and shaped away. But Inglis came out firing after tea with his best shot being a belligerent pull shot to whack a short delivery from Scott Boland for six.