West Australian paceman Matt Nicholson picked up two wickets in his first two overs late today as the Warriors moved within striking distance of an outright victory in the four-day cricket match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.

SA was four for 52 at stumps, needing a further 179 for an unlikely win on the final day tomorrow, with star batsmen Darren Lehmann (two) and Greg Blewett (zero) already back in the dressing rooms.

Western Australia resumed today at none for 23 in its second innings and was all out 40 minutes into the final session for 209, setting SA a target of 231.

Captain Simon Katich top scored for WA with 38, Murray Goodwin (33) was the only other batsman to pass 30, while tailender Brad Williams chipped in with a handy 20 runs from 20 balls.

Paul Rofe picked up three for 31 for the Redbacks to give him eight wickets for the match.

The SA chase started disastrously, with opener Ben Johnson, who scored an unbeaten 121 in the first innings, caught at point off Williams for 13 when the score was 24.

That started a collapse of four for 21 in 13 overs late in the day, with Nicholson trapping Blewett lbw in his first over, giving Blewett a pair for the match, then having Lehmann caught behind in his second over.

Nicholson - who dismissed Lehmann for 12 for one of his four wickets in the first innings - said they were the crucial scalps.

"The key is trying to get Blewett and Lehmann out and we got them reasonably cheaply," he said.

"If you had said at the start of the game you'd get Blewett for a pair and Lehmann for 12 and two you'd be pretty happy.

"But they've still got some quality batsmen left so we've still got some work to do."

Based on SA's batting form in the match so far, with the bottom six batsmen making three runs between them in the first innings, WA should wrap up the match tomorrow for its first outright win of the season.

But Nicholson said despite WA's first innings 227 being the highest score in the match so far, the pitch was still decent for batting if a partnership could be established tomorrow.

"It's not necessarily that bad a wicket but there's been some good bowling from both teams, it's hard to come in when it's swinging Irish (reverse swing) and to face spinners straight away," he said.

"It's hard to get a partnership going ... but once you're in you can definitely score runs."

He said WA was in a similar position when it came to Adelaide last season, but the Redbacks held on for a draw.

© 2001 AAP