Wellington: New Zealand wilted under the weight of a crushing run chase in the third Test against India, losing two wickets in one over on Monday to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and slumping to 136 for four at tea.
India declared its second innings before lunch at 434-7 on the fourth day, with an overall lead of 616 runs. By tea, New Zealand had only six second-innings wickets standing and was still 480 runs behind with four sessions remaining.
Ross Taylor was 48 not out and James Franklin was 18 not out at the interval but Taylor remained at the crease in bewildering circumstances, after getting a reprieve from the third umpire early in his innings.
Taylor was 9 and New Zealand 65-2 when the right hander turned a ball from Harbhajan to Virender Sehwag at short leg. India loudly appealed and Australian umpire Simon Taufel upheld the appeal, effectively leaving New Zealand 65 for three and in a state of collapse.
Taylor began to leave the field as Taufel appeared to consult his fellow umpire, compatriot Daryl Harper, and as television replays seemed to show the ball had bounced before reaching Sehwag.
The New Zealand batsman was two thirds of the way to the boundary when he stopped, apparently at a signal from his teammates, and stood watching a replay of his dismissal on the Basin Reserve's large screen.
Television umpire Tony Hill of New Zealand then appeared to relay to Taufel by radio his judgment that the ball had not carried cleanly to Sehwag and Taylor was recalled.
The decision awarded a small reprieve to Taylor and New Zealand though the home team's second innings still steadily decayed between lunch and tea as both Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan captured two wickets.
Rahul Dravid also claimed two catches to first set, then extend a world record from most Test catches in a career, moving to 183 to eclipse the mark of 181 he had previously shared with Australia's Mark Waugh.
Dravid captured the outright record when he caught New Zealand opener Tim McIntosh for 4 when New Zealand was 30. He improved it further when he caught Jesse Ryder off Harbhajan to leave New Zealand 84-4.
Ryder, who made a double century in New Zealand's only innings in the drawn second test at Napier, lasted only two balls before falling to Dravid and Harbhajan. Earlier in the same over opener Martin Guptill was trapped lbw by Harbhajan for 49.
The score was Guptill's highest in tests, beating the 48 he made in the first innings of the first test at Hamilton, which India won by 10 wickets. Guptill has yet to make a half century in Tests.
Earlier on Monday, India pushed its overnight score from 349 for five to 434-7 before declaring at the drinks break in the morning session.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was left 56 not out, Zaheer was 18 not and Yuvraj Singh made a quick 40 before the declaration. On Sunday, Gautam Gambhir made 167 and Dravid 60 to increase the Indian total.
India leads the series 1-0 and needs only a draw in Wellington to complete its first test series win in New Zealand since 1968.
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