Napier's inclement weather cost New Zealand a deserved victory over Sri Lanka.
The home team dominated this Test but persistent rain and bad light blighted their progress.
Batting was not easy throughout this match, but Bert Sutcliffe was technically flawless on day 1 for his 87. After New Zealand made 267, Sri Lanka were skittled for 169, leaving them some 98 runs behind. In turn on a murky 3rd day, New Zealand limped to 93-7 before bad light brought a merciful end to proceedings.
The game sparked into life on day 4 when all rounders Cairns (51) and Hadlee (93no) threw caution to the wind. They pushed New Zealand to 249-9, a lead of 347, when heavy rain mid afternoon washed out the rest of the day. Fleming declared overnight and the luckless Hadlee was deprived of the chance of a century.
Sri Lankan wickets fell steadily on day 5 and they were 160-9 and staring down a barrel, when bad light again intervened and the Test match was drawn.
Frustration for New Zealand and relief for Sri Lanka, whose champion bowler Muttiah Muralitharan was Man of the Match with 10 wickets.
New Zealand head to Sydney next to face Australia, while Sri Lanka are back at home in Colombo and will take on the unbeaten Pakistan, who now lead the tournament standings.
New Zealand 1st Innings 267-10 (101.1 Ov)
B Sutcliffe 87, SP Fleming 45, BB McCullum 34*, M Muralitharan 5-54, SL Malinga 2-40, WPUJC Vaas 2-43
Sri Lanka 1st Innings 169-10 (88.5 Ov)
PA De Silva 47, WPUJC Vaas 29, DPMD Jayawardene 28, RJ Hadlee 4-50, CL Cairns 3-27, DL Vettori 2-43
New Zealand 2nd Innings 249-9 (88 Ov)
RJ Hadlee 93*, B Sutcliffe 54, CL Cairns 51, M Muralitharan 5-83, SL Malinga 3-63
Sri Lanka 2nd Innings 160-9 (73 Ov)
FDM Karunaratne 56, A Ranatunga 31, DL Vettori 4-38, RJ Hadlee 2-17
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: M Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan celebrates as he traps Chris Cairns LBW for 51. He took 10 wickets in the match after being relatively quiet in the previous games of the tournament.
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