When spectators were first advised of the delay, a number left the venue straight away. Others trickled out over the next hour, before play resumed about 8pm.
While Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule initially labelled the burst "completely unexplainable", he later said it was believed a 150ml rain water main had split.
"What the contractors believe might have happened was when the place was built five years ago and the ducting was put in for the telecommunications, the pipe was nicked, and for whatever reason it's gone tonight," he said.
"It could have gone yesterday, a week ago, two months ago but for whatever reason it's gone tonight."
The pipe was relatively new - installed only seven years ago - and was made of plastic, rather than steel. There had been no pressure surges in the system, he said, as recent rain meant the system was running at normal levels.
Yesterday contractors were on the scene quickly to stop the leak. They would be working overnight to fix the pipe before play resumed tomorrow.
When asked if he thought the incident could taint the festival, Mr Yule said it was "very, very unfortunate".
"They'll get it fixed. It's regrettable but it will be fixed and it should not have a long term impact."
Festival director David Nancarrow said while last night's incident was "not ideal", the round two matches were expected to go ahead today as scheduled.
A burst pipe was "obviously something you never plan for", but he had been impressed with the response to the situation - from staff, and volunteers working to clear the water away, and spectators who offered to help out.
Event creator Bruce Mactaggart could not be reached last night.
Park trust manager Jock Mackintosh said he was "really frustrated" about last night's event, but saw no way it could have been foreseen.
"As far as I can tell it's a very unusual thing to happen. It's very bad luck," he said.
"We've had major power failures at the hockey tournament, deluges of rain at the previous tournament, and now this."
Sports Park chairman Rex Graham said the incident was "terrible timing".
"It's not a great thing to happen at a brand new sports park, with a brand new pipe, but as long as we get it fixed," he said.
"Its the worst of time for it to happen...but regretfully these things happen."
The incident did not dampen the moods of spectators who remained last night, with fans saying the pause in the game was not enough for them to leave.
Among them were hockey players Sarah Hunt and Jessica Wright, who had driven from Palmerston North yesterday to make the game.
When asked if the water affected their mood about the game, Ms Hunt said it wasn't a big deal.
"We left work at 3pm to get here, this won't take long to clean-up," she said.
Neither had thought about leaving - Ms Wright said if the game had been cancelled it might have been a different story, but it was a nice evening to spend outside anyway.
Their sentiments were shared with other fans spoken to by Hawke's Bay Today.
One woman - who did not want her name used - said while she had been involved in hockey for years, "I've never seen something like this happen before".
Play resumed around 8pm. The Black Sticks lost to Japan 2-1.
National sporting events haven't had the best luck in Hawke's Bay recently - drainage issues at McLean Park caused the cancellation of an ODI between the Black Caps and South Africa early February.