Ihaia West has done his best impression of Beauden Barrett for the Hurricanes who have secured a last-gasp 38-37 Super Rugby win over the Sharks in Napier.

In a Friday night thriller, inside centre Ngani Laumape crossed to put the hosts in front, five minutes after the fulltime siren, before West slotted the winning conversion from a handy spot.

It capped a flattering win for the Hurricanes, who were outplayed for long periods but capitalised on a one-man advantage in the closing stages to clinch a fifth-successive victory.

West was a standout at five-eighth after All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett was a late scratching with a quad muscle injury.

Playing at his provincial home ground of McLean Park, West had a hand in all of his team's tries, as well as tallying 18 points with the boot.

He threw a long pass to put Laumape across for his second try in the decisive play, taking advantage of the absence of replacement Sharks hooker Franco Marais, who was shown a yellow card minutes earlier.

That was the Hurricanes' only try of the second half, with West slotting four penalties to cut the Sharks' lead of 27-19 at halftime.

The impressive South African side appeared to have done enough when forward Tyler Paul crashed over with seven minutes remaining.

Robert du Preez's conversion, giving him 17 points for the night, put them nine clear.

It was another standout showing from the Sharks, who arrived in New Zealand with one win from their opening five matches but thumped the Blues 63-40 last week in Auckland.

They were routinely able to prise open what had been the competition's best defence with an attacking game, based an offloads and rousing support play.

Centre Lukhanyo Am scored twice before the break, along with halfback Louis Schreuder.

Jordie Barrett and Laumape crossed early, courtesy of West's passes, while Vince Aso's long-range try came from the No.10's audacious cross-kick 10m out from his own line.

The Hurricanes lost halfback TJ Perenara at halftime to a knee injury.

Tests will determine his availability and that of long-time halves partner Beauden Barrett for a run of three games in Wellington, starting next week against the Chiefs.

The Hurricanes notched back-to-back wins over the Sharks for the first time in 12 years to improve their season record to 5-1.

The Sharks lost a fourth match from seven, although they play six of their last nine matches in Durban.