#!/usr/bin/perl

use warnings;
use strict;
use Data::Dumper;

my @array1 = ( ["a", "b", "match"], ["c", "d", "e"],
                   ["f", "g", "h"], ["i", "j", "k"], );

my @array2 = ( ["l", "m", "z"], ["n", "o", "p"],
                   ["q", "r", "s"], ["t", "u", "match"], );

#  Pass in data structures and define
#  which element to match against.
my($matched1, $matched2) = common_lists(\@array1, \@array2, 2);

print Data::Dumper->Dump([$matched1, $matched2], ["matched1", "matched
+2"]);

#  Find the common lists where element $element_to_match matches.
#  Result should return both lists that have "match"
#  in their third element.
sub common_lists {
    #don't mix camel-case and underscored words randomly
    my ($array_ref1, $array_ref2, $element_to_match) = @_; 
    my(%index_first, $key, $array2);
    # For this, we build a hash of the elements to match from the firs
+t 
    # array of arrays.
    $index_first{${$$array_ref1[$_]}[$element_to_match]} = $_ for 
        0 .. @$array_ref1 - 1;
    # Then we iterate on the second array of arrays,
    for $array2 (@$array_ref2) {
        # extract the key from it,
        $key = $$array2[$element_to_match];
        # check if that key is in the hash we've built, and if so
        exists($index_first{$key}) and 
            # we return the corresponding array from the first array o
+f arrays, 
            # and the one from the second array of arrays as well.
            return $$array_ref1[$index_first{$key}], $array2;
    }
}

__END__
[download]

Sorry, but I've adjusted your code a bit to my style.

Output is:

$matched1 = [
              'a',
              'b',
              'match'
            ];
$matched2 = [
              't',
              'u',
              'match'
            ];
[download]

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