The Basin Reserve produced one of those when the undermanned West Indians came calling before Christmas.
And shortly after tea on the opening day of the second and final test against India, decent odds were to be found on something similar this time.
That might be a stretch with India starting today at 100 for two, just 92 runs adrift of New Zealand, which has it all to do to get back in the contest after getting the wrong end of lopsided conditions yesterday.
This was seam bowling nirvana but there remains a strong belief in the New Zealand camp it can do to India something similar to what was done to it yesterday.
''We showed that the ball's still swinging so there's certainly the threat there if the boys can put it in the right areas often enough,'' New Zealand's top scorer, Kane Williamson, said last night.
When MS Dhoni won his seventh straight toss on this tour, New Zealand shoulders must have slumped.
The pitch had a ''come hither'' look for the seamers and Ishant Sharma, with his best test figures, six for 51, duly filled his boots.
He took three for none in the space of 14 deliveries to rip the top off New Zealand's innings and at 86 for six it had taken on a funeral march for the hosts, for whom a series win is enticingly close.
Had Williamson not had a second reprieve for a bowler overstepping the line when he popped a catch to short leg on 23, the chances are the situation would have been far more grim than it already is.
Williamson spent two hours and 50 minutes scrapping hard to survive. He put on 47 with debutant Jimmy Neesham, who in turn cobbled up a further 32 with Tim Southee to get New Zealand close to 200.
It was a tough day for Tom Latham to make his test debut and he lasted just eight balls.
BJ Watling got a snorter from Sharma, while Brendon McCullum's uppish drive 17 minutes before lunch was ill-judged and openers Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford were unable to survive in seriously trying conditions.
The day was not about large, hooping swing; more a case of the ball nibbling about and no batsman ever really looking in. When that's happening, batsmen have problems.
As Williamson aptly put it: ''It's one of those situations where you know you've probably got a ball with your name on it.''
Williamson and Neesham clearly decided after lunch they were better to attack than try to hang on by their fingertips.
They peeled off a stream of fine shots, nine boundaries coming in 28 balls, before Williamson departed to Mohammed Shami, who took the other four wickets. And so New Zealand was left to wonder, what if. McCullum has now lost his last eight international tosses. This was one among the more critical.
Maybe New Zealand should send someone else out to toss, Williamson was asked.''
Honestly, that's not a bad idea. Geez, that would have been a nice one to win. Not winning a toss the whole series is just ridiculous.''
Southee and Trent Boult snared a wicket apiece, but Shikhar Dhawan, the lively left-hand opener, had got away and reached 71.
There were plenty of plays and misses and appeals, and that is why New Zealand knows it is still right in the game, if it can make the most of the first session today.
