Cricket: Black Caps find a weakness

A triumphant Chris Martin (left) watches the departure of Thilan Samaraweera, caught at slip by Stephen Fleming. Picture / Reuters

The first test might be destined for a boring draw, but New Zealand will at least head for Wellington with some fresh hopes of ending their summer campaign on a high note.

Unable to prevent the Sri Lankans posting a record total of 498 against New Zealand yesterday, the Black Caps nevertheless gained an insight into one of the touring team's most vulnerable areas, and will be hopeful of exploiting the foothold at the Basin Reserve next week.

The theory is that, while Sri Lanka's top-order is impressive down to No 5, the rest of the order is fragile and can crumble quickly, a weakness that could seriously undermine an otherwise ominous-looking total.

Paceman Chris Martin made a mention of Sri Lanka's top-heavy batting on Wednesday, and fellow opening bowler James Franklin added his 10c worth yesterday, after Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for 46 runs.

Franklin and Martin were by far the best of the New Zealand bowlers, slaving away on an unhelpful pitch against top-flight batsmen to end the innings with four wickets apiece.

"The top four or five scored the bulk of their runs and we managed to pick up the last five pretty quickly," Franklin said.

"It's encouraging that, once we did get their top batsmen out, we got through them fairly cheaply."

New Zealand, already with a first-innings lead of 63, battled through to 64 for two in fading light last night, leaving them with a lead of 127 with eight wickets remaining, and the test heading for an almost certain stalemate.

The only genuine drama came just before the day's play was abandoned, when Hamish Marshall seemed to be having all sorts of problems sighting the side-winding deliveries of Lasith Malinga, and was trapped in front in the 29th over.

Just six balls later umpires Steve Bucknor and Darrell Hair met and offered the light to James Marshall and nightwatchman Paul Wiseman, who wasted no time in heading for the dressing rooms.

Asked last night about the mood in the New Zealand camp after the belated decision, Franklin steered clear of controversy, saying the umpires had at least been consistent with their light interpretations throughout the match.

Having taken six for 119 in his previous test against Australia, Franklin found success with the reversing ball yesterday, knocking over Mahela Jayawardene for an impressively-compiled 141, before taking the last three wickets.

However, while pleased to have taken wickets on the road-like surface, Franklin was mindful of the support provided by Martin, Kyle Mills and Paul Wiseman, all of whom offered workmanlike spells and combined to maintain pressure.

Martin was possibly the most impressive, in that he made the major inroads into Sri Lanka's dangerous top-order, his four wickets comprising of Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] was a pretty tough day, so to get some rewards out there today was very satisfying," Franklin said. "Not only for myself but for the entire bowling unit.

"Chris Martin bowled well to get four, and I thought Kyle Mills bowled really well and his economy rate was outstanding. He did a lot of hard yards out there, as did Wizz [Paul Wiseman].

"It's fairly much a batsmen's paradise out there. There wasn't a lot of movement"

New Zealand seem unlikely to even attempt setting a fourth-innings target today, meaning the only genuine chance of a result is if the home side suffer a dramatic collapse this morning, and leave Sri Lanka a small total to chase.