A batting collapse has seen the Blackcaps' chances of victory in the first test against India take a hit, reaching the close of play 63 runs behind their hosts after day three in Kanpur.
Despite entering day three in a great position, the Blackcaps lost 10 wickets for 141 runs, slipping from 151/0 to 296 all out in their first innings.
And taking a first innings lead of 49 runs, India reached the close of play at 14/1, after Kyle Jamieson struck with his first ball to remove Shubman Gill.
The scalp gave Jamieson his 50th test wicket, becoming the fastest New Zealander to reach the mark. Jamieson's strike in just his ninth test, betters the 12 tests it took Shane Bond to achieve the same feat.
The Blackcaps will return to the field on Sunday (NZ time) for day four, hoping to take the remaining wickets to set a chasable fourth innings total.
Resuming at 129/0, New Zealand's overnight pair of Tom Latham and Will Young started cautiously, but ticked off their first target of avoiding the follow-on, reducing the deficit to less than 200 runs.
A lofted drive over mid-on from Young saw the pair raise their 150-run partnership, New Zealand's second highest opening stand in India, after Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent's 231 runs in 2004.
But at 151/0, Young became the first of the Kiwi batters to be dismissed, as he nibbled at a ball that kept low from Ravichandran Ashwin, feathering an outside edge through to stand-in wicketkeeper KS Bharat, and dismissed for 89.
Kane Williamson added 18 runs in partnership worth 46 runs with Latham, before he fell LBW to Umesh Yadav with the final ball before the lunch break, as the Blackcaps ended the first session at 197/2, still 148 runs behind.
After lunch, Axar Patel turned proceedings in India's favour. First, Axar removed Ross Taylor for 11, caught behind by Bharat, before trapping Henry Nicholls LBW for two, as the Blackcaps wobbled to 218/4.
Axar had his third after drinks, ending Latham's vigil cruelly short of a century. As Latham used his feet to the spin of Axar, variable bounce accounted for the left-hander, leaving him stranded as Bharat removed the bails, out stumped for 95.
Latham's exit saw the entry of debutant Rachin Ravindra, who looked to play positively, using his feet to the bowling of Aswhin for his first boundary in test cricket with a straight drive.
But that positive intent also brought Ravindra's downfall, as he was out clean bowled playing against the turn of Ravindra Jadeja, dismissed for 13 in his first test innings.
Runs were hard to come by for the seventh wicket pair of Tom Blundell and Kyle Jamieson, who guided New Zealand to tea at 249/6 - 99 runs adrift of India's first total.
Blundell battled to 13 from 93 balls, before he became Axar's fourth wicket to a ball that kept comically low to rattle the stumps. And when Tim Southee was bowled by Axar for five, the left-arm spinner had his fifth five-wicket haul in test cricket from just his seventh innings.
Kyle Jamieson made it to 23 to give another glimpse of his promise as an all-rounder, as the only batter after Latham and Young to pass 20, but he fell to Ravichandran Ashwin caught by Axar at long-on.
And when Will Somerville was also bowled attempting to sweep Ashwin, the Blackcaps had been bowled out for 296 - trailing by 49 runs.
Axar finished as the pick of India's bowlers with 5/62, while Ashwin finished with 3/82. Yadav (1/50) and Jadeja (1/57) shared the final two wickets.
But Jamieson carried the confidence of his batting into his second innings with the ball, striking with his first ball by bowling Shubman Gill for one.
In the fading light late in the day, Mayank Agarwal (four not out) and Cheteshwar Pujara (nine not out) batted through to the end of the day, seeing India to stumps without any further loss.
The hosts will resume on day four, looking to build a lead in excess of at least 300 runs, before setting the Blackcaps a fourth innings chase on a pitch that's shown signs of wear from the opening session on day one.
The Blackcaps will need to take at least eight wickets, with doubts over the fitness of Indian wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who failed to take the field at all on day three.
But after taking 142.3 overs to make their first innings score of 296, the Blackcaps could well look to bat out what would be the final day, in the hope of saving a draw.
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