New Zealand's batsmen softened Sri Lanka's spin bowlers with a valiant display on the third day of the rain-hit second and final cricket Test in Kandy on Monday.

Jacob Oram hit a career-best 74 and Mark Richardson and Daniel Vettori contributed 55 apiece as the tourists recovered from a precarious 11 for 3 late on Sunday to make 305 in their first innings.

Sri Lanka closed the day at 94-2 in reply, in a match headed for a draw after the entire first day's play and the first two sessions of the second day were cancelled due to the slushy outfield at the rain-ravaged Asgiria stadium.

Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya was unbeaten on an aggressive 53, while his successor Hashan Tillakaratne was on 10.

The third day was marred by a sickening on-field collision between Vettori and Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu following a successful run-out attempt by the fielder.

Atapattu's face hit Vettori's helmet and both players were sprawled on the field for several minutes before an ambulance came on to the arena and rushed them to hospital.

Vettori injured his left ankle when he slumped to the ground, while Atapattu suffered concussions and bruises on the face, according to the medical staff.

"Both players are under observation in hospital," said Sri Lankan team manager Ajit Jayasekera.

"I can't say yet how serious the injuries are."

Initial reports suggest the injuries may keep both players out of the limited-overs tri-series between New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka starting on May 10.

The Kiwis scored 96 runs from 41 overs in the extended 150-minute morning session to crawl from their overnight score of 75-4 to 171-5 by lunch.

Left-handed Richardson batted for almost four hours to make 55 before he was snapped up at short-leg by Kumar Sangakkara off young leg-spinner Kaushalya Lokuarachchi.

It was Richardson's second half-century of the series, having made 85 in the drawn first Test at Colombo last week.

It took the Kiwis an hour to move from 75 to 100, the landmark coming through an extra-cover drive by Richardson off Muttiah Muralitharan.

Another boundary, this time past the bowler, later in the same over fetched Richardson his 15th half-century in 24 Tests.

Spin threat Muralitharan, who struggled before lunch, finally met with success after the break when he trapped Robbie Hart leg-before and clean bowled Paul Wiseman.

Hart made 31 in a sixth wicket stand of 80 with Oram, who left soon after when he edged Lokuarachchi and was caught behind by wicket-keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana.

Oram hit 15 boundaries, justifying his promotion to number six to fill the void created by the absence of the injured Chris Cairns.

Vettori and last man Shane Bond added 34 for the 10th wicket before Vettori was run out following the collusion with Atapattu.

Muralitharan finished with three wickets, while Chaminda Vaas, Prabath Nissanka and Lokuarachchi claimed two each.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings): (overnight 75-4)

M.Richardson c Sangakkara b Lokuarachchi 55

M.Horne c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 1

S.Fleming lbw Nissanka 0

M.Sinclair lbw Vaas 3

S.Styris c Tillakaratne b Muralitharan 32

J.Oram c Kaluwitharana b Lokuarachchi 74

R.Hart lbw Muralitharan 31

D.Vettori run out 55

P.Wiseman b Muralitharan 7

D.Tuffey c Jayawardene b Nissanka 15

S.Bond not out 10

Extras (b-3 lb-7 nb-7 w-5) 22

Total (all out, 111.5 overs) 305

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-7, 3-11, 4-71, 5-109, 6-189, 7-222, 8-237, 9-271

Bowling: Vaas 22-8-48-2 (2-nb), Nissanka 16.5-5-41-2, Muralitharan 34-10-90-3 (5-nb), Jayasuriya 8-0-24-0, Dharmasena 15-5-40-0, Lokuarachchi 16-5-52-2.

Sri Lanka (1st innings):

K Sangakkara c Hart b Tuffey 10

S Jayasuriya batting 53

M Jayawardena c Hart b Oram 15

H Tillakaratne batting 10

Extras: (lb-5, nb-1) 6

Total: (for 2 wkts, 28 overs) 94

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-69.

Bowling: Tuffey 8-4-16-1, Bond 9-2-32-0, Oram 5-0-11-1, Wiseman 6-0-30-0.