Not much was expected of the Black Caps' top order in the first test against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
New Zealand has not played a test for 11 months, the pitch was hard and fast and South Africa had just come off a triumph in Pakistan.
A worrying trend that has crept into New Zealand's test cricket under John Bracewell's reign has been for strong early performances to evaporate in a case of "third day blues".
The Black Caps avoided such blues at Jo'burg. Instead, they contrived to collapse and turn a dominant position into one of all too familiar despair on the second day.
Surprisingly, South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss and inserted his own side in overcast conditions.
New Zealand's pace battery responded well and dismissed the home side easily. Bond and Martin looked a formidable pair, while O'Brien, Oram and Vettori all supported well.
At the back of every supporter's mind though was a hint of worry about how New Zealand would fair on such a track.
Those worries were well founded as New Zealand's batsmen exceeded some of the performances witnessed on the equivalent tour in 2006.
The openers, Cumming and Papps, looked palpably out of their depth. Only Fleming showed some class, but his manner of dismissal, caught in the slip cordon whilst flashing, was the story of the innings.
The tail offered no resistance, so, incredibly, New Zealand was 100 behind on the first innings.
Here, things turned to farce. Bond's body fell apart and his tour ended. Oram's hamstring played up and New Zealand's bowling attack was depleted to such an extent that Taylor and Styris were called into action.
South African pair Kallis and Amla made hay while the sun shone, for unlike the first day, it was shining. Kallis fell agonisingly close to his first test double ton, while Amla probably saved his test career, after a poor recent run of form.
New Zealand was faced with a target of over 500. Such a high score has never been achieved yet in 130 years of test cricket and the Black Caps never looked like changing that.
The three-pronged pace attack, with emphasis on "pace", with no "medium" prefix, tore New Zealand's limp resistance apart. Defeat inside four days could not have got New Zealand's summer off to a worse start. This test series is already shaping up as one the Black Caps may want to quickly leave behind.
South Africa 226 (H.Gibbs 63, S.Bond 4-73, C.Martin 3-67) and 422/3dec (H.Amla 176 not out, J.Kallis 186) beat New Zealand 118 (D.Steyn 5-34, M.Ntini 3-47) and 172 (D.Steyn 5-59) by 358 runs.
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