New Zealand will start the final day of the first cricket test in Wellington 369 for six, an overall lead of 67 over Australia after a day dogged by rain, bad light , gale force winds and a fresh umpiring row.
When bad light stopped play for the final time with Brendon McCullum on 94 and Darryl Tuffey on 23 there were still 30 overs to go.
The Black Caps had added 182 runs with a record stand between skipper Dan Vettori and Brendon McCullum the day's highlight.
They put on126, a record against Australia, before Vettori went for 77 when he dragged a ball from the spinner Nathan Hauritz back onto his stumps
Hauritz sparked the umpiring row when McCullum padded up without playing a stroke on 52.
The Australians appealed for leg before wicket but umpire Asad Rauf gave McCullum not out.
The Australia skipper Ricky Ponting called for a video referral but theVirtual-Eye cameras weren't able to provide an accurate projection of the path of the ball towards the stumps because they were shaking too much in the wind.
Third umpire Aleem Dar, who's also of Pakistan upheld Rauf's decision and Ponting held up the game for several minutes as he argued.
