Brendon McCullum on way to his 99 in Napier on Tuesday. (AFP)

Napier: Hamish Marshall and Nathan Astle both made centuries while Brendon McCullum fell agonisingly short as New Zealand took control of the opening Test with Sri Lanka at Napier on Tuesday.

Sri Lankan bowling attack desperately missed Muttiah Muralidharan as New Zealand piled on 561, their sixth highest total in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka made an encouraging start to their reply, wiping 48 runs off the deficit without loss when bad light stopped play early.

New Zealand?s marathon first innings finally ended after tea. Marshall top-scored with a career-best 160 while Nathan Astle made 114, his 10th Test hundred, after the Black Caps resumed on 267 for three.

McCullum seemed certain to become the third batsman to reach three figures when he raced to within one run of the mark only to be deceived by the unorthodox Lasith Malinga.