As the players sauntered off for lunch at the Basin Reserve yesterday, the tune Desperado began playing over the loud speaker system.
"You're losing all your highs and lows, ain't it funny how all the feeling goes away? Desperado," the Eagles warbled.
The New Zealand cricket side would have been feeling a bit numb, too. Already they were 345 runs behind and faced the stiff task of capturing another seven wickets.
By the end of the third day, the mountain they needed to climb was even more precipitous. They will need to go where no New Zealand team has gone before, set a difficult target of 405 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-test series.
They reached stumps on 70 for 3, with Ross Taylor on 15 and Peter Fulton on 12, still 335 runs away from an improbable victory.
If New Zealand are to be successful, they would eclipse their previous best run-chase of 324 for 5, achieved against the same opposition at Christchurch in 1994 when Bryan Young and Shane Thompson both scored centuries.
You can say with some confidence that they won't be successful. This is a brittle New Zealand batting line-up, highlighted by the anaemic 99 they scored in the first innings on Friday, and the weather forecast will offer them little hope.
Pakistan were in a generous mood, however.
Starting the day at 64 for 2, they looked in total control with skipper Mohammad Yousuf and Misbah Ul Haq at the crease - before collapsing to be all out for 239 in their second innings. Their capitulation wasn't as bad as New Zealand's embarrassing return of 14 for 6 on Friday but they did lose their last six wickets for just 42 runs.
Only Yousuf (83 off 200 balls), Umar Akmal (52 off 33) and Ul Haq (33 off 110) stayed around long enough to discover the pitch is still a belter.
But the Kiwi bowlers, led by Iain O'Brien and Chris Martin, who both snared four wickets, once again did a good job on what is a sedate Basin strip.
Both Martin and Grant Elliott picked up wickets with consecutive balls and O'Brien combined with Martin to tear through the tail. Martin finished on 4 for 52.
You have to feel for the bowlers. They have dismissed Pakistan for 264 and 239 in this test inside three days, normally enough to win a test match, but they have been badly let down by their batsmen.
Incredibly, openers Tim McIntosh and Martin Guptil had lasted just one, four and five balls in their three previous innings with a top score of one.
It was something of a triumph, then, when they navigated the first over of their chase for victory. Small mercies.
But McIntosh was dismissed off the 11th ball for two.
In most other countries, McIntosh's place in the side would be under threat but he will probably survive courtesy of his dogged 31 off 136 balls in Dunedin and the fact the queue of replacements is hardly barging the door down.
No one is racking up the runs in domestic cricket and, when they do, they often look out of their depth at international level - stand up Peter Fulton.
Guptill and Daniel Flynn hardly inspire confidence either. Guptill played one delicious cover drive yesterday but was bowled by Asif playing around a straight one for 15 and Flynn quickly followed him, tickling an Asif ball to Kamran for 20 to continue a wretched series for the converted No 3.
It's little wonder New Zealand Cricket maintain unwavering patience with the wayward Jesse Ryder, who is sitting out the series with a groin injury.
Fulton and Taylor survived until the end of the day's play but both were lucky to be there.
Yousuf might still have been thinking about a streaker who invaded the pitch when he dropped a sitter off Fulton two balls later. The scantilly clad exhibitionist seemed to spend more time in the middle than some of New Zealand's top order, as security slowly ushered her to the boundary.
Taylor also offered a straight-forward chance to Misbah at slip five overs before the end of the day's play.
New Zealand hold onto a belief they can still win this game, as they must, but they will have to create history if they are to achieve that.
Record chases
World record run chases
* 418/7 - West Indies bt Australia, St John's, 2003
* 414/4 - South Africa bt Australia, Perth, 2008
* 406/4 - India bt West Indies, Port of Spain, 1976
* 404/3 - Australia bt England, Leeds, 1948
* 387/4 - India bt England, Chennai, 2008
Highest fourth innings totals in New Zealand
* 348/5 - West Indies bt NZ, Auckland, 1969
* 344/6 - Sri Lanka drew with NZ, Hamilton, 1991
* 324/5 - NZ bt Pakistan, Christchurch, 1994
* 311 - NZ lost to England, Wellington, 2008
* 307/6 - England bt NZ, Christchurch, 1997
Cricket: Black Caps must make history to win
Chris Martin bowls to Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan during day three of the second test at Basin Reserve. Photo / Getty Images
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