The Sri Lankans, facing a one-day style chase of 191 in 38 overs, were 72-1 off 30 overs in a tame finish to an otherwise dramatic fifth and final day’s play at the Asgiriya Stadium.
Sri Lanka abandoned the victory bid after aggressive opener Sanath Jayasuriya fell early to Shane Bond for nine.
Kumar Sangakkara remained unbeaten on 27 while Mahela Jayawardene made 32 not out in an unbroken second wicket stand of 58.
The draw left the short two-match series inconclusive after the first Test at Colombo’s P. Saravanamuttu Stadium ended in a high-scoring draw last week.
The rain-hit Kandy Test, which saw the first five sessions of play washed out, suddenly came to life on the fifth day when New Zealand were shot out for 183 in their second innings at the stroke of tea.
Muralitharan finished with 5-49, the 37th time he has taken five or more wickets in an innings to overtake New Zealander Sir Richard Hadlee’s long-standing record of 36.
Only West Indian Courtney Walsh with 519 wickets and Australia’s Shane Warne (491) have dismissed more batsmen in Test history than the prolific 80-Test off-spinner.
Muralitharan’s feat overshadowed a remarkable fightback by New Zealand tailenders Robbie Hart and Paul Wiseman who put on 40 runs for the eight wicket.
The pair came together 15 minutes before lunch with their team tottering at 139-7 — just 146 runs ahead — and held their ground for 98 minutes to frustrate the hosts.
Wiseman was last man out for a career-best 29 while Hart made a dogged 12, both batsmen falling to left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas, who ended with 3-31.
The match turned Sri Lanka’s way when six New Zealand wickets crashed in the morning session after they had resumed at Tuesday’s score of 92-1.
Sri Lanka’s new captain Hashan Tillekeratne, who took over after Jayasuriya stepped down to concentrate on his cricket, defended the decision not to chase down the target.
“We wanted to go for it, but after Jayasuriya got out there was no way we could have scored the required runs,” Tillekeratne said.
“He is our most attacking and experienced batsman and a lot rested on him. If he had been there till the end we may have been able to win.
“I don’t think we did a disservice to Muralitharan by not going for the runs. He is a class act and will always take wickets on any surface. But we also have to be realistic.
“I don’t think the fifth day wicket was conducive to scoring runs fast,” Tillekeratne said.
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said he would have preferred to have a positive result in the series, but the wickets in the two Tests were heavily weighed in favour of the batsmen.
“It is difficult to take 20 wickets in a match on surfaces like that,” said Fleming, who scored a career-best 274 not out and an unbeaten 69 in the two innings of the first Test.
“I think there was a chance of a result when we ended the fourth day at 92-1.
“It had set us up well for a final fling on the last day, but we lost too many wickets in the morning.
“The loss of time on the first two days told in the end. There was not enough time to force a result.”
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 305 (J.D.P. Oram 74, M.H. Richardson 55, D.L. Vettori 55).
SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 298 (H.P. Tillekeratne 93, S.T. Jayasuriya 82; P.J. Wiseman 4-104).
NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings, overnight 92-1):
M.H. Richardson c Kalu’rana b Nis’nka 55
M.J. Horne c Till’ratne b M’tharan 27
S.P. Fleming c Kalu’rana b Dhar’sena 33
M.S. Sinclair st Kalu’rana b M’tharan 0
S.B. Styris c M’tharan b Vaas 1
J.D.P. Oram lbw b M’tharan 16
R.G. Hart c Kalu’rana b Vaas 12
D.L. Vettori b M’tharan 0
P.J. Wiseman c Till’ratne b Vaas 29
D.R. Tuffey c Jayasuriya b M’tharan 1
S.E. Bond not out 1
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-6, NB-1) 8
TOTAL (all out, 97.3 overs) 183
FALL OF WKTS: 1-65, 2-109, 3-110, 4-115, 5-136, 6-139, 7-139, 8-179, 9-182.
BOWLING: Vaas 15.3-6-31-3; Nissanka 10-4-18-1; Dharmasena 12-2-32-1; Lokuarachchi 14-3-26-0; Muralitharan 39-18-49-5; Jayasuriya 7-0-20-0.
SRI LANKA (2nd Innings):
K.C. Sangakkara not out 27
S.T. Jayasuriya c Richardson b Bond 9
D.P.M. Jayawardene not out 32
EXTRAS (LB-4) 4
TOTAL (for one wkt, 30 overs) 72
FALL OF WKT: 1-14.
BOWLING: Tuffey 9-3-18-0; Bond 6-1-19-1; Wiseman 9-4-20-0; Vettori 6-1-11-0.
RESULT: Match drawn, series ends 0-0.
UMPIRES: D.J. Harper and S.J.A. Taufel (both Australia).
TV UMPIRE: P.T. Manuel (Sri Lanka).
MATCH REFEREE: G.R. Viswanath (India).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Muttiah Muralitharan.
MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Stephen Fleming. —AFP