All-round Katich stars for New South Wales

It was a captain's performance Simon Katich will be proud of. After scoring a brisk and confident 53, he made his presence felt in the field with two direct-hit run-outs, deservedly picking the Man-of-the-Match award.

Katich took one look at "a typical wicket without a blade of grass" and decided to bat, and found himself in early after Philip Hughes missed an ugly heave. Katich relied on timing instead of force, taking three fours off Dillon du Preez: not one shot was crude, yet each raced away to the boundary after being struck with superb wristwork and placement. Ryan McLaren was welcomed with a drive through extra cover and an effortless six off Katich's pads; again, these shots were unique for their placement rather than ferocity.

Katich busted the myth that he's a boring batsman to watch. He took on Thandi Tshabalala by dancing down the pitch and lofting him over long-off. He managed to send the ball a long way over the rope and that shot brought up his fifty. He tried the same shot against Shadley van Schalkwyk but holed out to long-off.

In the field, Katich was just as deadly. Adrian McLaren stroked a couple of brusque boundaries off Doug Bollinger but was run out when Katich threw down the stumps from mid-on when he had barely one stump to aim at. When Ryan Bailey pushed Bollinger to mid-off, he risked a single to Katich at mid-off, who charged at the ball and hurled down the stumps at the bowler's end. Billy Doctrove didn't even ask for the replay.