Kumar Sangakkara has helped Sri Lanka rebuild after a difficult first day of the second Test in Wellington as the tourists reduced New Zealand's lead to just 62 runs.

Sangakkara, who became the fastest player in Test history to reach 12,000 runs on day one, showed caution alongside Dinesh Chandimal during the first hour of play as Sri Lanka made slow progress without losing further wickets.

However, Sangakkara [66 not out] began to find his timing and past 50 before the drinks break as New Zealand's chances of a sizeable first-innings lead appeared to diminish.

Captain Brendan McCullum turned to spin bowler Mark Craig towards the end of the session and was nearly rewarded for his bowling change when the Kiwis thought that they had trapped Chandimal [45 not out] in front without playing a stroke.

However, Chandimal survived a referall and, despite a wild stroke from Sangakkara off the last ball of the morning from Doug Bracewell (3-51), Sri Lanka reached the lunch break unscathed on 159-5.