MELBOURNE, Nov 1 AAP - Victorian captain Shane Warne boldly declared tonight his side couldn't lose this Pura Cup cricket match against Tasmania.

Tasmania started its chase of 365 for the outright win well late on day three at the MCG, reaching none for 50.

Victoria lost left-arm quick Matthew Inness early in the innings for the next two to three weeks with a hamstring injury.

But Warne was confident he and his fellow bowlers, plus the vagaries of the pitch, had the Tigers on the back foot.

"I'd much rather be in our situation than their's. There's a few little tricks," he said of the pitch.

"It's probably playing a little bit better than it did at the start of the game, but there are some massive footmarks and there's some variable bounce for the quicks.

"I don't think Tasmania think they can win. It's a matter of them saving the game.

"If we bowl well, we should win - as simple as that."

Michael Di Venuto ended the day on 32 and fellow opener Jamie Cox was on 15.

Inness pulled up sore in his second over and left the field immediately.

Warne said the outright win was crucial for Victoria, with himself and as many as three other players lost to national teams in the next few weeks.

"All-in-all, I couldn't be happier. It's a big game for us - if we win this, we go to the top of the table," he said.

"It will be a good, testing day for everyone tomorrow."

Victoria set up Tasmania's run chase with a solid 2 (dec)-236 off 56 overs.

Opener Jason Arnberger, who top-scored in the first innings with 172no, again starred with an unbeaten 102 and leads the Cup averages with 334 runs so far this season at an average of 167.

While Arnberger laboured in the first innings, needing 499 minutes and 391 balls for his score, the corresponding figures in his second dig were 213 and 159.

Arnberger and fellow opener Matthew Elliott made light of talk over the last few days about the pitch playing progressively worse.

They had little trouble putting on 168 for the first wicket and Elliott also should have had a ton, hitting a square cut down the throat of Michael Dighton at deep point for 80.

Tasmania resumed its first innings at 7-146 this morning and looked to be at Victoria's mercy when the ninth wicket went for 166.

But No.11 Shane Jurgensen made a mockery of his side's plight and his lowly spot in the order.

His 45 off 42 balls featured eight boundaries, three of them in a row off Victorian captain Shane Warne, and was the second-highest score of the innings .

Jurgensen's 58-run stand with Damien Wright (31no) took Tasmania past the follow-on and boosted the score to 224.

Shane Harwood, yesterday's hat-trick hero, finished with 5-55.

© 2002 AAP

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.