Kiwis rout the Irish within three days warming up effectively for the England series
New Zealand tour of Ireland
New Zealand's European journey in the summer of 2026 has started on a positive note after they wrapped up an innings win against the hosts Ireland at Belfast in a four-day one-off Test match. The result was never in doubt however the cricket purists would have expected a better fight from the host nation. Ireland had prepared for this match by organizing a domestic First Class match a few days ago as most of the New Zealand squad arrived straight after a run of T20 International and franchise cricket. The visitors showed no sign of rust winning the match easily by an innings and 79 runs.
Kiwi captain Tom Latham surprised everyone by leaving out each of their first choice seam-bowling attack as Kyle Jamieson and Will O'Rourke were not included in the starting XI and Matt Henry was ruled out due to a low grade hamstring strain. Nathan Smith and Zakary Foulkes shared the new ball with Blair Tickner and Ben Sears to follow. The top six were on expected lines and Dean Foxcroft was handed a debut at No. 7 as the spin-bowling all-rounder. Ireland won the toss and opted to bowl as Mark Adair was partnered with three fast-bowling debutants Ben Mayes, Liam McCarthy and Rueben Wilson. Stephen Doheny opened with captain Andrew Balbirnie at the top in absence of Paul Stirling and Cade Carmichael took the No. 3 spot. Andy McBrine was the spin-bowling all-rounder for the hosts.
Mark Adair took the new ball in sunny conditions and removed Tom Latham with a lovely inswinger on the second delivery which was left alone by the opener expecting it to move the other way. Debutant Liam McCarthy took a blinder at short-mid wicket to remove Devon Conway who tried to flick a fuller delivery. There was a brief 64-run partnership between veteran Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra but McCarthy once again produced a magic delivery to trap Williamson in front of the wicket for 36 and two balls later, Adair produced another beauty to dismiss Daryl Mitchell in his second spell as the scorecard read 86-4 for the Blackcaps. Williamson who is now 503 runs short of 10,000 run-mark in Test cricket, has been a bit scratchy in the longest format recently. The Kiwi legend seemed to have developed a vulnerability against the ball jagging in recently either leaving a big bat-pad gap or getting out lbw in front of the stumps. Since Kane has opted for a casual playing contract, he has not been training with the same intensity and such issues can creep in when you are not playing consistently in the nets but a man of his stature should be able to sort this out quickly.
Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell scored centuries for New Zealand in the first innings against Ireland in Belfast
What followed next was a nightmare for the hosts as Rachin and Tom Blundell put together a partnership of 217 runs, both scoring centuries in the process. Ireland pacers who were very unlucky as they induced false shots from the visitors on many occasions did falter a bit against Ravindra. They made a mistake feeding Rachin on his strength by bowling short on his body which he took to the cleaners most of the time. The six to bring up his century was a perfect example of the short ball plan failing against the Kiwi southpaw. Rachin did fall on 129 to a poor drag-down by Harry Tector but Blundell continued on his merry ways partnering with debutant Dean Foxcroft for 158 runs before getting out on 186 to Rueben Wilson for his debut Test wicket. Foxcroft fell on 98 to a heartbreaking sweep shot in order to score a few quick runs as New Zealand finally declared on 490. Ben Mayes who started erratically with the new ball was the pick of the bowler but did not get a single wicket. Adair who finished with 3-66 did not bowl on the Day 2 due to an unspecified injury. 19-year old Rueben Wilson also bowled decently in his debut game.
Disaster struck Ireland in the first innings with the bat. Nathan Smith wrecked havoc from the first over removing both Doheny and Carmichael for ducks and picked up the fist five wickets of the Ireland innings as the score became 38-6 in 10 overs. Four of the top 6 batters scored ducks as the visiting bowling attack, especially Smith moved the ball both ways completely destroying the Irish batting. Ireland's MVP in Test cricket, Andy McBrine stood up for the nth time forging a 116-run partnership with Mark Adair for the seventh wicket. The same pair has been part of multiple rescue acts in the past for Ireland as their top order has failed time and time again. They played with patience punishing anything short and on width until Smith came back to remove Adair for his sixth wicket of the innings. The tail fell in quick succession leaving McBrine stranded on 72 not out as the Blackcaps enforced the follow-on in the third session of Day 2. Smith finished with 6-40, his maiden fifer in International cricket.
Nathan Smith completed the one-off Test against Ireland with figures of 8-93
Ireland started the second innings confidently led by Stephen Doheny but captain Balbirnie attempted a terrible drive outside off nicking the ball to the keeper after putting up 42 for the first wicket. Carmichael went late on Day 2 and suddenly the pitch started playing tricks with uneven bounce causing trouble to the batters. Tickner continued to trouble the batters with his tall height and hard length picking up five wickets in the second innings for the first time in Test cricket. Stephen Doheny stayed on the crease for 117 balls scoring his maiden Test fifty but was removed by a short ball that rose sharply after pitching. Lorcan Tucker continued his love with this format scoring his sixth 50+ score in Tests. Ireland will be sweating on the fitness of Curtis Campher who was hit on the thumb by a pacy delivery from Sears leaving Campher in tears by the impact as he walked off retired hurt.
In hindsight, the decision to bowl first by the Irish captain set his team back from the start of the match. Although the bowlers started dangerously with the new ball, taking four Kiwi wickets in the first session, once the ball became soft Ravindra, Blundell and Foxtrot feasted on best batting conditions of the match under sunny skies. The conditions remained overcast for most of Ireland's reply in both innings and the pitch started behaving strange with uneven bounce. It was not entirely unplayable but for a team still starting to find their feet in the longest format the quality of bowling they faced was grueling. New Zealand would be happy with some match practice before the series against England next week although we might see a very different bowling attack at Lord's except for Nathan Smith. Ireland will now look forward to two T20Is against India and a five-match ODI series against Afghanistan at home but there are no more Tests in this calendar year. Let's hope the European nation introduces a multi-day domestic competition by next year which will help provide the first-choice players much needed practice and produce impressive new talent.
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