By Sam Ackerman
After knocking off the Pakistan top order yesterday the Black Caps almost did the same to Kamran Akmal's head.
Chris Martin bowled a bouncer which Kamran took his eye off and copped it right on the head.
Kamran was left dazed but there were no such excuses for Ross Taylor who dropped a sitter in the slips.
He was given a chance at redemption just seven runs later.
Iain O'Brien looked to have well and truly exposed the tail, Kamran given out leg before wicket, but he appealed and won as the ball was deemed to have struck too high.
He then set about making the most of his second life.
It took the day one strike force of Darryl Tuffey and Daniel Vettori to remove Kamran for 70.
The skipper finished the day with four wickets, as did Tuffey, Pakistan adding 103 runs to their overnight total, all out for 264.
But that only brought about a recurring nightmare.
For the third innings in a row a Black Caps opener was out in the first over - Martin Guptill's duck left New Zealand 1/1 at lunch.
Daniel Flynn should have joined him if not for more poor Pakistan catching.
But there was no such luck for Tim McIntosh, gone for four on his 30th birthday, the Black Caps floundering again at 5/2.
Taylor tried to keep a positive approach and pushed along to a brisk and confident 30, before being undone after misreading an Umar Gul gem.
Gul struck again to remove the struggling Peter Fulton for his second consecutive test duck.
Then the all too familiar rot set in.
Brendon McCullum's first ball duck left the Black Caps reeling at 85/6.
Not even Vettori could get the Black Caps out of this one, the last six wickets falling for 14 runs.
An embarrassing 99 all-out.
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