India 161 and 121 (Tendulkar 51, Bond 4-33) lost to New Zealand 247 (Richardson 89, Zaheer 5-53) and 36 for 0 by 10 wickets
Scorecard

On a day when redemption beckoned, India walked down the road to perdition. Beginning their second innings 86 behind, with the match still alive, India collapsed to 121 all out, and went down by 10 wickets. The responsibility, in equal parts, lay with their inept batting and the hostile and disciplined bowling of New Zealand, particularly Shane Bond, who finished with 4 for 33.

India's downfall was assured in the half-hour before lunch, when Bond bowled a fierce spell of 3 for 8 and India lost four wickets with just 35 on the board. Sachin Tendulkar played a lone hand for 51, but changed partners with a speed that Liz Taylor would have envied.

The first man to go was Virender Sehwag, once again done in by lack of footwork. Having taken 12 off a Daryl Tuffey over, he was lbw to Bond, stuck on the back foot like a statuette (23 for 1). Sehwag's anticipated blitzkreig was stillborn, but Bond's had just begun.

Jacob Oram got the next wicket, troubling Sanjay Bangar all through an excellent 12th over, and eventually getting him out lbw off the last ball. Bangar, on 12, was struck on the pads by an incoming delivery just below the knee roll, and even though he was on the front foot, it looked a fair decision (31 for 2).

And whatever happened to Rahul Dravid? The man who has been a model of technique and application for his team drove at a Bond delivery two balls later without getting his feet to the pitch of the ball and was bowled through the gate for 7 (31 for 3). It was a good ball, a fast inswinging yorker, but it was unlike Dravid to succumb to it in the manner he did.

The last ball of that over all but wrapped up the match. Ganguly, on 2, hung his bat out tamely outside off and Robbie Hart held on to a regulation outside edge (33 for 4). It was fast, ferocious bowling on a good length in the corridor from Bond, a refreshing marriage of raw speed and discipline.

The carnage continued after lunch as VVS Laxman, feet stuck to the crease as if in endorsement of super-glue, poked his bat outside the off stump to Oram, and Stephen Fleming at first slip held on easily (36 for 5). Laxman completed the first pair of his Test career.

Tendulkar and Parthiv Patel then added 40, batting sensibly with no trace of desperation. Tendulkar did play one rash stroke though, slashing at a short and wide ball from Bond with his bat well away from his body, and inside-edged onto his stumps. Asoka de Silva, always in the thick of things, called it a no-ball.

The reprieve was temporary. Patel, on 10, was snapped up by Tuffey, opening the face of his bat slightly to a ball that moved away just a trifle. Stephen Fleming did well to take a low catch to his right with Hart, the wicketkeeper, moving across him as he did so (76 for 6).

Craig McMillan took an excellent overhead catch at point to dismiss Ajit Agarkar for 9 off Tuffey's bowling (88 for 7). Tuffey then picked up a third wicket, getting Harbhajan Singh to edge to Scott Styris in the slips. Harbhajan, on 1, was squared up in comical fashion by Tuffey, twisting at the crease against the backdrop of a hoarding on the sightscreen behind him that featured his smiling close-up (96 for 8).

Tendulkar now went berserk, smashing Bond for three boundaries in an over, but Zaheer Khan was out shortly afterward, caught brilliantly by a diving Styris at gully after a powerful cut off Oram (121 for 9). In the next over, Tendulkar again slashed hard at Bond, and again played on. This time, it was a legal delivery.

Earlier, Zaheer had got the first five-for of his Test career, picking up the wickets of Mark Richardson and Daniel Vettori in the morning. But in taking the last three wickets, India had allowed New Zealand to add 46 runs to their overnight lead of 40. In the end, of course, it hardly mattered. New Zealand got to their target of 36 with an ease that suggested that 50 more would have been no problem.

While India's defeat was not unexpected, the manner in which it came was. The key to overseas competence for India was supposed to lie with the bowlers, whose ability to pick 20 wickets in a Test was doubtful. But the bowlers did their job and it was the batsmen, with their inflated averages and hyped-up reputations, who let India down again.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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