Western Australia led Tasmania by 177 runs after wickets tumbled on day two of the Sheffield match at Bellerive.

At stumps on Monday, the Warriors were 5-115 in their second innings and with the upper hand after 15 wickets fell on a dramatic day’s play.

Mitchell Marsh will resume on Tuesday on 40 not out with Sam Whiteman unbeaten on 15.

Two wickets in the first over of the day proved a precursor of things to come and WA held a huge advantage when they had the home side 7-41 in their first innings on a seaming deck.

But Tigers pair Evan Gulbis (80) and Luke Butterworth (72) put on 145 from just 142 balls to get their side back in it.

Tasmania were eventually dismissed for 196, 62 behind the Warriors’ first-innings total of 258.

Western Australia fared little better early in their second dig and were 4-32 before Marsh and Ashton Turner (30) steadied.

Tigers left-armer Sam Rainbird had 3-32 but a brilliant piece of glovework from skipper Tim Paine ended the dangerous Marsh-Turner partnership at 51.

Paine collected a Mark Cosgrove (1-5) delivery wide outside leg stump and whipped the bails off to add to the seven catches he already had in the match.

Tasmania had resumed at 0-7 with expectations of running down WA’s 258 but their top-order’s effort resembled a slips catching drill, nine of their wickets catches behind the wicket.

At 7-41 their worst-ever Shield total of 76 looked a chance to fall before Gulbis and Butterworth added some respectability.

Gulbis’s highest first-class score came off just 73 balls and included 14 boundaries before he was last man out.

WA seamer Mitch Marsh finished with 4-19 and Ryan Duffield, who’d been on a hat-trick in the first over of the day, 3-55.