Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne had not planned on shelving his offside game.
And the 27-year-old left-hander played a few more expansive shots later in his innings - one which led to his downfall on 84.
But it was his was staunch defence during the middle session at the University Oval yesterday which has helped his side erase some of New Zealand's advantage.
Sri Lanka was 197 for four wickets at stumps on day two and trail the Black Caps by 234 runs.
There is still plenty of work to do but Karunaratne's fine knock has given them a platform.
"It's not something we talked about,'' Karunaratne said of his cautious approach after lunch.
"They just bowled well in that session.
"The aim was to tire them out a little bit and get some loose balls. That was the plan.
"That did start to happen a little later on,'' he said.
"That's what we have to keep trying to do. We have to wait until the situation is a little bit in our hands, and then make our move.''
Karunaratne really only had one nervous moment before he was out cutting.
In the opening over Trent Boult delivered a cracking bouncer.
Karunaratne managed to get his head out of the way but left his bat extended and the ball deflected off it and down to the boundary.
And with the ball moving about early on, Karunaratne put away his offside game.
"[Trent] Boult bowled some good lines, and though I'm pretty confident with my offside drives, I thought that maybe I'd make a mistake with them.
"I tried to wait for their mistakes, and I wanted to get those straight balls. So when they did that I was able to hit straight and through leg. Once the ball lost its shine a little, I played a few more offside shots.''
Dinesh Chandimal was instrumental as well.
He combined with Karunaratne for a 122-run stand for the third wicket.
He will continue the fight today undefeated on 83.
