Western Australia 2 for 119 (Whiteman 63) lead Victoria 114 ( Hardie 4-24) by 5 runs
Victoria's push to host next week's Sheffield Shield final hit a major hurdle as Western Australia's seam attack, led by career-best figures from Aaron Hardie, made light work of the competition's in-form batting line-up at the WACA.
Victoria could only muster 114 after being asked to bat first, while WA raced to 2-119 by the close of day one.
Sam Whiteman led the way with a boundary-laden 63 off just 85 balls, while fellow opener Cameron Bancroft was the second wicket to fall on 30 with the scores level.
Shaun Marsh remains unbeaten on 11, with nightwatchman Matthew Kelly on 4.
But it wasn't all bad news for the ladder-leading Vics, with the lack of bonus points earned at the matches in Adelaide and Hobart meaning the Vics are effectively assured of a spot in next week's decider.
Western Australia are already halfway towards the victory they need to both reach and host the Shield final thanks to some high-quality seam bowling.
Hardie led the way with a career-best 4-24, knocking over a host of big names in the process.
Hardie skittled last week's centurion Travis Dean (3), Shield top-scorer Peter Handscomb (1), the in-form Nic Maddinson (4) as well as Jake Fraser-McGurk (4) during a dream first session.
Opener Will Pucovski looked good in his latest comeback from another high-profile concussion but, having done the hard work, the youngster was caught behind wafting at a loose leg-side delivery from Kelly for 22.
Kelly (2-27) returned to end the Vics' biggest partnership - 47 between Matt Short (43) and Sam Harper (18). But Harper's dismissal kick-started a tail-end collapse as the Vics lost 5-23 to end their innings after just 43.5 overs.
Debutants lined up for each team with Victoria fielding medium-pacer Cam McClure and Western Australia including 17-year-old prodigy Teague Wyllie.
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