Ravindra and Blundell centuries leave New Zealand on top against Ireland at Stormont
New Zealand turned a difficult start into a position of control on the opening day of their one-off Test against Ireland at Stormont, closing on 361 for 5 after Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell answered an early collapse with hundreds. Ireland won the toss and bowled, and for a session it looked the right call. By stumps the hosts were chasing the game.
Adair tears through the top order
Mark Adair gave Ireland the morning they wanted. He bowled New Zealand captain Tom Latham for a duck with the second ball of the day, had Devon Conway caught for 4, and removed Daryl Mitchell cheaply to leave the tourists reeling. When Liam McCarthy, one of Ireland's debutants, trapped Kane Williamson lbw for 36, New Zealand had slumped to 86 for 4 on a surface already offering sharp turn.
Adair finished the day with 3 for 66 from 20 overs, the standout figures in an Ireland attack that stuck to its task without quite finding a second wind. Thomas Mayes, also making his debut, was the most economical of the lot, conceding 39 from 17 overs with eight maidens.
Ravindra and Blundell rebuild
What followed flipped the day. Ravindra and Blundell came together with the innings in trouble and put on 217 for the fifth wicket, a stand that took the sting out of the new ball and slowly bent the match New Zealand's way. Ravindra was the more fluent, reaching 121 from 194 balls with 11 fours and four sixes before he holed out to deep midwicket off the part-time off-spin of Harry Tector.
Blundell was still there at the close on 142 not out, an innings of 233 balls studded with 18 fours and a pair of sixes. He has spent much of his Test career keeping wicket and batting in the middle order, and this was the sort of long, patient hundred that decides matches on a pitch that is already turning.
Dean Foxcroft, handed his Test debut, kept Blundell company through the evening and was unbeaten on 38 at stumps. The pair added a further 58 after Ravindra's exit and will resume on day two with Ireland needing early wickets to stay in the contest.
A first Test of its kind
This is the first ever Test between Ireland and New Zealand, and only the second red-ball international staged at Stormont after Ireland's win over Zimbabwe at the ground in 2024. It is just Ireland's 13th men's Test since they were granted the status in 2017, and they came into it still without a senior win over New Zealand in any format. They handed caps to McCarthy, Mayes and Reuben Wilson for the occasion, and all three repaid the selection with disciplined spells, even if the wickets did not always follow. On a pitch spinning this much this early, their work will matter more as the match wears on.
For New Zealand, the platform is set. A first-innings total beyond 400 looks within reach with Blundell set and Foxcroft growing in confidence, and on a surface like this, runs in the bank could prove decisive. Ireland, for their part, will point to that opening hour as proof they can hurt this side. They simply need to do it again on the second morning.
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