To collapse. The Oxford English Dictionary lists it as - Verb: 1. suddenly fall down or give way. 2. fall down as a result of physical breakdown. 3. fail suddenly and completely.
New Zealand cricket fans might want to add "Black Caps on a reasonable wicket in Wellington, circa April
2009" to that list.
All those definitions apply.
It was the middle session on the second day that did it - five wickets for 76 runs. As the drumming of the Indian fans got louder around the boundary, New Zealand's middle order batting suffered an insurmountable case of the jitters.
The Black Caps went to lunch 64 for two after dismissing India for 379 with just four runs added overnight. They ended up being routed in the final session for 197, a deficit of 182.
India will be 51 for one starting this morning, a lead of 233, with ample time to bat New Zealand out of the test. Twelve wickets in a day seems excessive on what points to being a normal second day pitch, judging by the bounce and movement.
Ross Taylor agrees, having top-scored with 42.
"I still don't think the wicket's that bad. There's probably spongier bounce than Napier and while it nipped around a bit, it didn't swing about as much as the first day."
He lamented the lack of application. "Only batting 65 overs is disappointing. We simply didn't give the bowlers enough rest."
Zaheer Khan led the way for India with his seventh five-wicket bag, taking the first four wickets, then pouching a skied Tim Southee slog as part of five for 65 from 18 overs.
Khan was given steady assistance from Ishant Sharma, once he had the northerly wind at his back, and Harbhajan Singh produced enough turn to limit any defiance with three for 43 from 23 overs.
"We supported Zaheer well. There were still wickets to get after that initial spell," said Sharma.
Skipper MS Dhoni was also in the mix, taking six catches with the gloves to equal Syed Kirmani's dismissal record against New Zealand with five catches and a stumping in 1976.
The glimmers of hope for New Zealand's batting were limited. Tim McIntosh and Ross Taylor produced the semblance of a partnership for the fourth wicket with 49.
McIntosh still looks to have a weakness with the short ball which may truncate his life at the top level. He's often playing pull and hook shots awkwardly away from his body once deliveries shoot above navel height.
His delivery from Khan took the bat shoulder to first slip. With 32 runs, he's now perished for 34 or less in seven of his eight test innings - the century in Napier this summer being the exception.
James Franklin joined Taylor for almost an hour at 98 for four. They eked out 32 for the fifth wicket.
While Taylor had the occasional head lifting larrup outside off stump and Franklin also looked vulnerable in "the corridor" early, there was an effort at genuine application. On 15, Franklin produced an erratic sweep off Singh, straight to Sehwag lying in wait at square leg.
He took a sharp, low chance to his left - tick the box on that plan.
The tragedy for Taylor was he didn't appear to hit his attempted glance down the legside. Yet not enough doubt existed for umpire Daryl Harper to resist launching the finger.
"It's just one of those things in cricket, it happens," said Taylor.
While he may have been protecting himself from a potential fine or Harper from embarrassment, Taylor said he was "pretty sure" he'd nicked it, even if the snickometer told a different story.
Of the other wickets, Martin Guptill played-on for 17 with Khan's first delivery coming around the wicket, while Daniel Flynn snicked behind on two, telegraphing his demise with an earnest gawk back.
Jesse Ryder's trot of five 50-plus innings in his last six came to an early end on three, wafting his bat to Khan in the hope of a Tendulkar-style ramp over the slips.
Captain Daniel Vettori also rode his luck, right over the boundary in fact, slashing Sharma just wide of a stretching deep backward point before a cavalier 11 ended with an inside edge. Iain O'Brien wielded a couple of light blows, scraping together 19.
Just when you thought there might be grounds for former team psychologist Gary Hermansson to dust off the CV, Chris Martin, the man of the moment after a pulsating lofted straight drive off Singh, had Sehwag wrapped on the gloves and caught by Taylor at first slip for 12.
In one New Zealand positive from an ordinary day's play, Martin finished with four wickets for 98 runs from 25.1 overs in the first innings, then one for 13 from four in the second.
That leaves him three wickets shy of leaping Danny Morrison as New Zealand's fourth-highest wicket taker, a second innings incentive.
But Martin's personal success is outweighed by the millstone that could see New Zealand without a test win at home for the first time since the 1995-96 summer.
An opposition making more than 365 runs on the first innings makes it hard.
SCOREBOARD
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the third test between New Zealand and India.
INDIA first innings (375-9 overnight)
Gambhir lbw b Franklin 23
Sehwag c McCullum b O'Brien 48
Dravid c Franklin b Martin 35
Tendulkar c McCullum b Martin 62
Laxman c McIntosh b Southee 4
Y Singh lbw b Ryder 9
Dhoni c O'Brien b Southee 52
H Singh v Vettori b Martin 60
Khan c McCullum b O'Brien 33
Sharma c McCullum b Martin 18
Patel not out 15
Extras (2b 8lb 3w 7nb) 20
TOTAL (all out, 92.1 overs)379
FOWs: 73, 75, 165, 173, 182, 204, 283, 315, 347, 379.
Bowling: C Martin 25.1-3-98-4 (2w), T Southee 18-1-94-2, I O'Brien 22-3-89-2 (1nb 1w), J Franklin 14-4-38-1 (2nb), D Vettori 9-1-47-0 (3nb), J Ryder 4-2-3-1-(1nb).
NEW ZEALAND first innings
McIntosh c Y Singh b Khan 32
Guptill b Khan 17
Flynn c Dhoni b Khan 2
Taylor c Dhoni b H Singh 42
Ryder c Dhoni b Khan 3
Franklin c Sehwag b H Singh 15
McCullum c Dhoni b H Singh 24
Vettori c Dhoni b Sharma 11
Southee c and b Khan 16
O'Brien c Dhoni b Patel 19
Martin not out 4
Extras (9b, 3lb) 12
TOTAL (all out, 65 overs)197
FOWs: 21, 3, 80, 98, 120, 125, 138, 160, 18, 197.
Bowling: Z Khan 18-2-65-5, I Sharma 14-3-47-1, M Patel 8-2-20-1, H Singh 23-4-43-3, Y Singh 2-0-10-0.
INDIA second innings
Gambhir not out 28
Sehwag c Taylor b Martin 12
Dravid not out 9
Extras (2lb) 2
TOTAL (for one wicket, 16 overs)51
FOW: 14.
Bowling: T Southee 3-0-13-0, C Martin 4-2-13-1, I O'Brien 5-2-8-0, J Franklin 3-0-15-0, J Ryder 1-1-0-0.
Cricket: Sadly, you cannot disguise a collapse
Martin Guptill is bowled by Zaheer Khan for 17. Khan led the way for India, taking five wickets. Photo / Getty Images
To collapse. The Oxford English Dictionary lists it as - Verb: 1. suddenly fall down or give way. 2. fall down as a result of physical breakdown. 3. fail suddenly and completely.
New Zealand cricket fans might want to add "Black Caps on a reasonable wicket in Wellington, circa April
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