Thornely seizes his chance

Victoria 259 and 3 for 0 (Elliott 1*, Arnberger 2*) need another 452 runs to beat New South Wales 317 and 396 (Thornely 143, Katich 126)
Scorecard

Dominic Thornely, bumped up to No.4 in New South Wales's batting order, took full advantage of his promotion to stroke a fluent 143, as the Pura Cup leaders Victoria were set an unlikely 455 for victory at Newcastle.

It was Thornely's maiden first-class century, and true to the current mood in Australia, he dedicated his achievement to Steve Waugh. "Stephen has thrown me up to No. 4 now and I hope to make that spot my own. He basically said to me you're more of a chance to play for Australia now than I am, so you'd better bat above me."

The only down-side of his innings came on 99, when Waugh set off for the quick single that would have completed Thornely's hundred. It was an improbable opportunity, and sure enough Waugh failed to regain his ground and was run out for 31 by David Hussey's direct hit. Waugh had been involved in 27 run-outs during his Test career, but was only dismissed himself on four of those occasions.

The other hero of NSW's day was Simon Katich, who continued his golden summer with 126 from 159 balls, including 21 fours and two sixes. Katich, coming off his maiden Test century at the SCG last week, played a number of supremely confident strokes including four boundaries in an over from Mick Lewis.

Victoria resume on the final day on 3 for 0.