KEY POINTS:
New Zealand were dismissed for 365 in their first innings in the final session on the third day of the first cricket test against the West Indies at University Oval today.
Resuming on 226 for four, New Zealand added 139 for their last six wickets with tailender Iain O'Brien the last out, caught and bowled by Fidel Edwards for four.
Daniel Flynn topscored with 95 on Thursday while Jesse Ryder advanced from 54 to 89 today before he became the second of paceman Daren Powell's three victims.
Powell took three for 68 while captain Chris Gayle, who had figures of three for 42, took his wickets on the first day.
The match remained in a holding pattern for much of the day as ground staff frantically attempted to dry out University Oval so the third day of a severely disrupted contest could begin.
An inspection of the outfield at 12.30pm determined the ground was still too soft for play to get underway - a decision was subsequently made to take lunch at 1.30pm.
New Zealand were on 226 for four when bad light halted play in the final session on Thursday while overnight rain and more showers yesterday followed the abandonment of day two at 2.30pm.
A helicopter hovered over the outfield for 90 minutes today, the downdraft helping dry out the outfield before staff equipped with air blowers concentrated on soaking up residual water near the protected wicket block.
Play was intended to start at 11.30am but umpires Mark Benson and Amiesh Saheba held off before having another conference an hour later with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, his West Indies counterpart Chris Gayle and match referee Javagal Srinath.
Poor weather has already seen 106.4 overs lost during the first two days play and today's 90-over allocation is unlikely to be delivered as overcast skies are again likely to affect the light quality later in the day.
The forecast for tomorrow is fine, though rain is predicted to return on Monday's final day.
If possible play will start 30 minutes early on the remaining days in a bid to make up for some of the lost overs.
Jesse Ryder (54) and Brendon McCullum (4) are the not out batsmen.
- NZPA
