Drysdale reached 58, before he was caught by Brad Kneebone off the bowling off Henry Cooper. The dismissal of the Bay of Plenty skipper saw a change of fortunes for the visitors as they started to grab wickets.
Sean Davey posted a gritty 35, while Jono Boult reached 26 before being dismissed, which took his Bay of Plenty total runs past the 2000 run mark since his debut a decade ago.
Alex Gooding, playing just his third match for Bay of Plenty, dug in down the order to score a more than useful 37, as his team were bowled out for 358 early on day two.
"We played well on Saturday with Tom MacRury and Pete Drysdale setting a new first wicket record," said Bay of Plenty coach Graeme Aldridge.
"Tom hit the ball well and scored at good rate to put us in a good position. A few others chipped in and we were happy with our score".
A further avalanche of runs came from the Northland batsmen, as they set their sights on overhauling the big Bay total. Ben Hyde and Brad Kneebone put on a first wicket partnership of 117, before Kneebone and Henry Cooper took the Northland total through to 316, with both batsmen posting centuries.
"The team created enough chances with the ball to put Northland under pressure but unfortunately dropped a number of catches" said Aldridge.
Sean Davey took all three Northland wickets to fall, with the game ending in a drawn result when they rain arrived late in the afternoon
Bragging rights are likely to be decided when the two teams meet again at the Northern Districts Limited Overs tournament in Taupo on Sunday.
Bay of Plenty 358 (Tom MacRury 142, Peter Drysdale 58, Sean Davey 35, Alex Gooding 37, Jono Boult 26; B Randell 3/72, S Hyndman 2/57, H Cooper 2/88)
Northland 329/3 (H Cooper 116no, B Kneebone 107, B Hyde 71; Sean Davey 3/57)
Result: Match drawn.
