Victoria remain in the box seat to take the Sheffield Shield despite being bowled out 40 runs behind Western Australia’s first innings total at Bellerive Oval.

A century from veteran batsman Chris Rogers has helped the Bushrangers reach 381 in their first innings on day four of the final, behind Victoria’s first innings total of 421.

But time is running out and a draw is looking increasingly likely, meaning Victoria will claim the Shield.

Test opener Rogers’ 112-run contribution was the highlight of Victoria’s innings, which wrapped up midway through the second session, and is the 72nd first-class ton for the 37-year-old.

After posting a 185-run partnership with Rob Quiney (69), Rogers was the first Victorian batsman to fall, trapped lbw on Monday by Ashton Agar (3-100).

The spinner proved a valuable weapon for WA, going on to snare two crucial wickets on day four, those of Marcus Stoinis (47) and skipper Matthew Wade, without score.

The breakthroughs came slowly for WA’s patient bowlers, with Peter Handscomb (48) caught and bowled by Nathan Rimmington (3-79) and Dan Christian (27) bowled by Andrew Tye (1-48).

There was even a wicket for skipper Andrew Voges (1-4) during his two overs, with Peter Siddle (three) caught by Marcus Harris.

A stand of almost an hour by James Pattinson (13 not out) and Scott Boland (seven), which added 18 runs, soaked up valuable time for Victoria until Rimmington took care of the tail enders with Boland trapped lbw and Fawad Ahmed bowled without score.

Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris will open WA’s second innings.