Ireland endured a difficult second day against New Zealand at Stormont, but there were still moments of resilience and encouragement as the hosts battled hard in front of their home support.
After beginning the day on 361-5, New Zealand extended their first-innings total to 490-8 declared, with Tom Blundell producing an outstanding 186 and Dean Foxcroft narrowly missing out on a century on debut with 98. While conditions became increasingly batter-friendly, Ireland continued to fight for breakthroughs and prevented New Zealand from pushing beyond the 500-mark.
The hosts then faced a challenging task with the bat against a disciplined New Zealand seam attack under cloudy Belfast skies. Ireland’s innings got off to the worst possible start as Nathan Smith struck twice in the opening over to remove Stephen Doheny and Cade Carmichael. From there, the home side were forced onto the back foot, with regular wickets halting any chance of momentum developing.
Despite the difficult circumstances, there were positives for Ireland in the lower order. Mark Adair once again showed his value as an all-rounder with a determined counter-attacking innings of 40, refusing to let New Zealand completely dominate proceedings. He shared a valuable 116-run partnership with Andy McBrine that frustrated the visitors and briefly lifted the Stormont crowd. McBrine also showed composure and his usual resistance during a stubborn stand as he finished unbeaten on 73*.
New Zealand swiftly enforced the follow-on and sent Ireland back out to bat in the last session of the day. Ireland’s opening batters Balbirnie and Doheny got things moving with some delightful boundary fours as they looked to start well in their 2nd innings. The day finished with Ireland on 61-2, Stephen Doheny with a decent start of 36* with 7 fours.
The hosts will hope to produce a fighting response on Day 3 to extend this match as far as possible – with unfavourable weather reports on Saturday, Ireland will know that to take the match into Day 4 could work in their favour as they look to rescue the game and avoid defeat.
MATCH SUMMARY
Ireland Men v New Zealand Men, Test Match, Belfast, 28 May 2026
New Zealand 490-8d (119 overs; T Blundell 186, R Ravindra 121, D Foxcroft 98; M Adair 3-66)
Ireland 179 (33 overs; A McBrine 73*, M Adair 40; N Smith 6-40)
Ireland 61-2 (16 overs; S Doheny 36*)
End of Day 2
