Victoria's top order has capitalised on a four-wicket Shane Warne haul against the Western Warriors late on day two to hand its team control of the Pura Cup match here at the WACA ground in Perth.

Warne (4/53) struck twice during the early stages of the morning session and again just before tea to remove dangerman Marcus North (52) and help dismiss the Warriors for 235 - a tally which left them nineteen runs short of Victoria's first innings total.

Bushrangers opener Jason Arnberger (63*) then survived a cautious forty-seven overs and four partners over the course of the last two sessions to help his side to 3/146 at stumps and a 163-run lead which Victoria will want to turn into a mammoth fourth innings target for their hosts.

Arnberger watched Matthew Elliott (30), Matthew Mott (15) and Brad Hodge (0) lose their wickets in the last session of play, before Clinton Peake (24*) settled in with him at the crease.

But it was still Warne and the mended ring finger on his spinning hand which were Victoria's trump cards on a day that had started with the Warriors seemingly on top.

From the very first delivery of the day, out-of-sorts opener Murray Goodwin (59) seemed determined to make up for lost time and lost innings, crashing two boundaries off the day's third over.

At the same time, though, nightwatchman Mark Walsh (10) looked far from stable, lasting until just the next over when Warne deftly spun the cherry between his defensive bat and pads to crash into the stumps and leave the score at 2/99.

After Goodwin helped the Warriors passed the century mark at the expense of Victorian captain Paul Reiffel (1/63), new batsman Simon Katich (6) wasted little time and slogged a Warne delivery through the mid wicket region.

Reiffel was again plundered by Goodwin for a pair of boundaries in his next over. But Katich had barely warmed his motor when Warne struck just five overs after bowling Walsh, finding the edge of Katich's blade and handing wicketkeeper Darren Berry the catch. It was Warne's one hundredth first-class wicket for Victoria.

Damien Martyn (5) arrived and soon played defensively at paceman Michael Lewis (2/49). It was a mistake and succeeded only in producing an outside edge and another regulation opportunity for Berry.

And then real disaster struck exactly three overs later when Goodwin was found short of his crease while returning for a second run; Arnberger's sharp throw consigning the home side to strife at 5/140.

Tom Moody attempted to stop the rot by smacking two boundaries from Ian Harvey's (2/26) third over, but he then played a wayward hook shot which carried to Lewis at fine leg, making his the fifth wicket to tumble in the session.

It continued a collapse which started with Warne's introduction in the fourteenth over of innings late yesterday. With just twenty-four balls left before stumps, the Warriors were in an enviable position at 0/71 and looking to post a big first innings lead.

With a middle order recovery in mind, the Warriors returned from the lunch break only eighty-four runs in arrears but continued to labour.

Harvey, working opposite Reiffel, was rewarded in the fourth over after lunch, catching Brendon Julian (4) out as he looked to play across the line and forced the ball back on to his stumps.

Two overs later, Stuart Karppinen (1) become the second early victim in the session, a thick edge from Reiffel this time carrying to Warne at first slip and leaving the Warriors at a scoreline of 8/189.

In just his second innings this season, it was North (54) who proved himself the star in an ultimately unsuccessful quest for the two points. He shrugged off the losses of Julian and Karppinen with a lovely range of shots, possibly the best of which came when he deftly guided a wide Reiffel delivery to the fence at backward point.

Staying true to form, Reiffel reintroduced Lewis as the Warriors notched the two hundred with a single to new batsman Jo Angel (9). Shortly after that, Warne was recalled to the bowling crease too and asked to build on his impressive comeback figures of 3/34 from thirteen overs.

North waited patiently on bad balls before cracking the sixth ball of Warne's new spell to the square leg boundary. Even Angel joined the action after drinks, a straight drive to the fence taking the Warriors to 8/224.

But Angel was soon walking to the showers when he edged Lewis to a bobbling Harvey in the gully while attempting a forceful cover drive.

With only tailender Gavin Swan (0*) left to partner him, twenty-one year old North tried to force the pace and hammer his way to the twenty-nine runs that were still required. He swept Warne neatly to the backward square leg boundary and then hoisted him magnificently over the mid wicket fence for six.

But Warne had the last laugh and gave the visitors the two points the very next time North ventured down the pitch. The youngster tried a swashbuckling cut but only nudged the ball toward Harvey's safe hands at first slip.

Unable to snare a wicket in the nine overs before tea, the Warriors worked hard thereafter to produce chances. A diving Moody grassed a difficult chance early during the last session, unable to hold a one-handed catch at second slip after Elliott's edge was found by Swan (0/31).

Karppinen (1/19) soon grabbed his third first-class scalp for the season, though. A rising delivery in the nineteenth over caught Elliott unawares and his ensuing defensive prod produced a thick edge which flew to gully fielder Mike Hussey.

The Bushrangers recovered from 1/59 to add another thirty-two runs, before yesterday's hero Julian defeated number three batsman Mott. After Mott was lucky to escape a swinging Karppinen ball, Julian (1/20) added to his growing match haul by knocking the left-hander's stumps over with a full-pitched inswinger.

Just minutes later Hodge was out for a duck, caught by Walsh at short fine leg while trying to pull an Angel (1/35) delivery to the fence. Hodge entered the match with 582 runs at 83.14 this season, but left with scores of 22 and 0.

Despite those late wickets, the Warriors still have a lot of work to do to get back into the match. With Warne in ominous form so early in his comeback, the Warriors will certainly be keen to limit the chase for outright points as much as possible.

After Victoria's seven run Mercantile Mutual Cup loss to the Warriors on Tuesday, Warne said it had taken him a long time to understand how to operate on the WACA wicket.

Before Thursday Warne had taken twenty-five first-class wickets at the WACA at an average of 38.68, but he said the ground was tough for leg spinners because of the unusual breeze.

"If you bowl at the top end, it sort of drags it in to the leg side and there's not much turn in the wicket."

"If you bowl down this end (where Warne bowled today) it's hard to get the drift and you're bowling into the wind with short boundaries."

"It took me a while to work out how to bowl here," he said.

If Warne's form was encouraging for the visitors, then the Warriors will also be glad that Goodwin finally managed to accumulate some runs. Prior to his innings today, the former Zimbabwean Test batsman had scored thirty-nine runs from five innings - with a highest score of fifteen.

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