Kyle Jamieson embodied the ecstasy and Colin de Grandhomme the agony of New Zealand's bowlers as their first-Test match-up with England stood poised on a knife-edge at the end of the third day at Lord's.
Jamieson bowled beautifully, making early inroads on the hosts' pursuit of their 277-run victory target before putting them firmly on the back foot and then grabbing the crucial wicket of Ben Stokes just as England were frustrating their visitors.
de Grandhomme, meanwhile, could be in doubt for the rest of the three-Test series after picking up a foot injury early in England's second innings to cap a forgettable day for the New Zealand allrounder.
As it stands, England need 61 runs more with five wickets in hand, leaving New Zealand with plenty of work to do, but Jamieson was hugely influential in getting them this far.
He claimed the wicket of England opener Alex Lees, who looked in decent nick stroking four boundaries on his way to 20 from 32 balls before he somewhat inexplicably left a delivery which nipped back and crashed into the top of off stump shortly before lunch.
Another brain fade - this time from de Grandhomme - had contributed to New Zealand's second-innings collapse in which they lost 6 for 34 in eight overs within the first 90 minutes of play on Saturday following a half-hour rain delay at the start.
No sooner had Stuart Broad had an exuberant appeal for lbw against de Grandhomme turned down than Ollie Pope gathered the ball at fourth slip and fired it into the stumps at the striker's end. de Grandhomme, meanwhile, had wandered down the pitch and had his back to the action, seemingly oblivious to the urgency required as he turned sluggishly and tried to regain his ground but was run out for a duck.
The blame for New Zealand's demise cannot be laid entirely at de Grandomme's feet - far from it - with Broad's wickets either side of his bizarre dismissal removing centurion Daryl Mitchell and Jamieson to make it a team hat-trick, as only Tim Southee offered some resistance from the lower order with an enterprising 21 from 26 balls. But losing de Grandhomme did nothing to help New Zealand's cause.
Nor did de Grandhomme's no-ball when he thought he had Stokes out chopping on to his stumps for just 1. Stokes was three-quarters of the way through his journey back to the pavilion when he was called back after de Grandhomme was found to have overstepped.
It was another insult and then came the injury, de Grandhomme pulling up on approach to Stokes on the last ball of his fourth over and limping off the field almost immediately. Team management later confirmed that de Grandhomme would play no further part in the match after suffering a suspected tear in his heel and that an MRI scan on Sunday would determine his outlook for rest of the series.
Despite a streaky continuation to tea, Stokes returned after the interval more composed and worked his way to a half-century - including three sixes off spinner Ajaz Patel - in a 90-run stand for the fifth wicket with Joe Root.
He fell in ugly fashion though, cramped by a Jamieson short ball that had him performing a backbend, hands straight up as the ball brushed his glove and flew into those of wicketkeeper Tom Blundell. Furious with himself, Stokes looked skyward as he dropped his bat in disgust, knowing the importance of the moment.
That brings us back to Jamieson and the impact he had on the state of the game with his impeccable probing line on the top of off stump.
His second over after lunch was superb as he stayed in the attack and picked up where he left off having snared Lees' wicket. Jamieson's first delivery drew an inside edge on to Zak Crawley's back leg and, two balls later, Crawley missed an attempted drive by the barest of margins off one that was full and outside off but swung away a fraction too much. The final ball of the over swung perfectly though on a full length as Crawley defended away from his body and edged to Southee, who took a strong diving catch at third slip. At that point, Jamieson had 2 for 8 from four overs.
A loose drive from Jonny Bairstow delivered Jamieson's third as he was bowled through the gate for 16, having narrowly avoided nicking the previous delivery full outside off stump. At that point, Jamieson ended his nine-over spell with 3 for 24 and England were 69 for 4, in all sorts of trouble.
But by tea, Stokes and Root had built their partnership to 30 and, when Jamieson returned to action inside the first half-hour after the break, his day soured slightly, with Stokes clobbering him through the covers for four, evading what could have been an outside edge and then seeing the ball disappear leg side for five wides.
Patel conceded 17 off his first over back into the attack, all of them bar four byes etched next to Stokes' name, including two sixes heaved over the leg side.
When Jamieson finally sent Stokes packing, New Zealand might have scented the collapse that many a pessimistic England fan feared but an unbroken fifty stand between Root and Ben Foakes had the match firmly in the balance at the close.
Playing his 15th Test, Jamieson ended the day with 4 for 59 from 20 overs and Mitchell backed his side to take the remaining wickets they needed.
"We can see with the nature of this wicket the morning is the toughest time to bat and hopefully we can show up tomorrow morning and it zips around a little bit like it has the last three days and we give ourselves an opportunity to win a Test match," Mitchell said.
"The wicket has slowed as the game goes on and you can probably see by the scores that are happening that it is getting easier to bat but we know that we're literally one wicket away from being into their bowlers.
"Kyle bowled awesome, the way he came in and he bashed a length for long periods of time and he really brought some energy, which we know Kyle does every time. He's a world-class bowler and I know he's only had a short career but what he's done in a short period of time is very special."