Veteran paceman Michael Hogan would love nothing more than to close his career with a Sheffield Shield title for Western Australia.
Hogan decided during the competition break for the Big Bash League this season would be his last with the Warriors, but only recently informed his teammates of his impending retirement.
The 34-year-old put WA in a strong position to sneak into the Sheffield Shield final on Sunday, claiming 4-49 as the Warriors rolled South Australia for 230 on day two of their penultimate season fixture at the WACA Ground.
WA needs to beat South Australia in this match and then Queensland in the final round, while hoping other results go their way, to qualify for the Shield final.
"Unless something ridiculous happens this is probably my last game at the WACA, but I've had a great time here and loved every minute of it," Hogan said.
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"(Winning the Shield) would be a great way to go out, but we need to focus on this game first because we've got ourselves in a position this year where we have to wait on other games and see how they go."
WA were 2-31 at stumps, an overall lead of 112, with experienced pair Shaun Marsh (19) and Adam Voges (nine) at the crease.
Hogan snared Mark Cosgrove (20) and Travis Head (0) in consecutive deliveries during the middle session before Sam Raphael (80) and Jake Lehmann (47) combined for a 91-run stand to guide SA to 3-157 at tea.
The former Newcastle trundler trapped Lehmann in front with the fourth ball after tea as SA collapsed to lose 6-73, with Alex Ross the last man out for a valiant 45.
Raphael, who posted his highest first-class score, admitted his side had "some work to do", but felt they were still in the contest after removing Cameron Bancroft (1) and Marcus Harris (2) cheaply in the final hour.
"I think if we bowl well tomorrow morning, get a few early wickets and put the pressure on them we can get ourselves back in the game," Raphael said.
SA's innings got off to a poor start when Joel Paris (2-60) had Jake Weatherald edging to Marsh at second slip for a golden duck, giving the left-armer an unofficial hat-trick after he claimed the final two wickets of WA's thrilling win over Queensland last Sunday.
However, official laws stipulate a hat-trick can only be counted if the feat is achieved in the same match, including across innings.
WA collected 2.35 bonus points and SA an additional 1.8 points from first-innings calculations.
Earlier on Sunday, Hilton Cartwright took his overnight score to 139 as WA's first innings closed at 311, with Redbacks pacemen Daniel Worrall (5-91) and Joe Mennie (4-58) claiming the final two scalps.
