The visiting side posted a ground record 482 for five declared and in reply Otago was 210 for seven when the game was finally called off shortly before 5pm yesterday.
Northern played the better cricket and will go into tomorrow's one-day game at the venue buoyed by its efforts.
It will be missing in-form batsman BJ Watling who has joined the Black Caps in Australia.
On the plus side, former international Hamish Marshall has returned and is likely to suit up.
Otago could be without Craig Cumming, who batted yesterday but was in a lot discomfort having injured his back while fielding during the match.
England international Steven Finn is unavailable for one-day games and his pace will be a loss.
It is a rapid transition from whites to the colour clothing but Otago coach Vaughn Johnson is comfortable his side has put in the yards during the preseason.
Otago resumed at 40 for two yesterday with a lot of work to do to get past the follow-on mark of 282.
Michael Bracewell survived a confident appeal from Brent Arnel early on and the 20-year-old left-hander found the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner more to his liking.
He dispatched a massive six over the row of elm trees which line the picturesque ground.
It must have been a satisfying feeling leaning on his bat while the ball was retrieved.
The bowler, though, had the last say.
Once Santner got his line right he was much more threatening and bowled Bracewell with a nicely pitched delivery which gripped and hit the top of off-stump.
Nathan McCullum strolled to the crease full of intent but got pinned down by some tight bowling.
The explosive all-rounder is not at his best when he is not scoring freely and there was a sense he would try something desperate to break the shackles.
A fullish delivery from Santner was all it took.
McCullum attempted to dispatch the ball over extra cover only to see it hauled in by an athletic Joseph Yovich positioned perfectly at short cover.
The fielder leaped to his right and thrust out a hopeful hand.
Sometimes they stick, much to McCullum's disgust.
The dismissal completed a miserable game for McCullum.
He took one for 102 with the ball and added just two with the bat.
While Otago was struggling at 95 for four, Sam Wells was playing quite delightfully. He smashed Arnel through the covers for consecutive fours and posted his third 50 this season.
But on 61 he got caught ball-watching and set off for a single.
His batting partner, Derek de Boorder, did not respond and Wells's desperate dive was all in vain.
It was a terrible waste but it did bring Cumming (36) to the wicket.
The former test batsman provided the only highlight in a dull day of cricket when he clipped a ball behind point to overtake Bert Sutcliffe as Otago's leading runs-scorer.
The celebrations were low-key but that did not take away from what was a wonderful achievement.
Sutcliffe's haul of 6028 runs had stood for 49 years.
The right-hander arrived at the ground not expecting to bat.
He was still in pain from a mishap in the field the previous day.
But, when he saw his side's plight, he had a rush of adrenaline and made his way out to the crease. But it was innings of more guts than glory.
Northern claimed six bonus points in the game, and Otago one.
