New Zealand extended their control on the one-off four-day Test against Ireland in Belfast following a dominating performance on the second day with bat and ball. Building on from the strong foundation set by Rachin Ravindra’s century on the opening day, the visitors posted 490 for 8 after scores of 186 from Tom Blundell and 98 from debutant Dean Foxcroft.

After that, seamer Nathan Smith ran through the Irish top-order, claiming a five-wicket haul within 29 balls of his new-ball spell to finish with 6 for 40. That rolled Ireland over for 179, and New Zealand swiftly enforced the follow-on. By stumps, Ireland were 65 for 2 in their third innings, still 246 runs away from making New Zealand bat again.

With the ball, Smith removed four of Ireland’s top-six batters for ducks in the hosts’ first batting innings – a record in Test cricket – and blazed to his maiden Test five-for after New Zealand had declared for 490 just before lunch.

The Irish top-order collapse started two balls into the Test’s second innings when Smith struck with a full ball that jagged inwards, hitting opener Stephen Doheny on the pads in front of the stumps. Four balls later, No. 3 Cade Carmichael tried to play straight to an inswinger but get an edge to Tom Latham at slip. With both out for ducks, Ireland were 0 for 2 after the first over.

After lunch, and under greyer skies, it was Smith tormenting Ireland once again, with a beauty of a length ball that angled in and opened Andrew Balbirnie’s defense. The exposed bat-pad gap was enough to knock Balbirnie’s middle stump back for 13.

In the same spell, Smith got another full ball to sear back and hit Curtis Campher’s front pad, and he was the third batter gone for a duck. Smith would collect his fourth duck victim and get his five-for when Lorcan Tucker pressed forward for a drive, only for the ball to cut him in half and take out his poles. A wicket for Zak Foulkes to dismiss Harry Tector (16) then saw Ireland reeling at 38 for 6.

A stubborn seventh-wicket stand of 116 between Andy McBrine and Mark Adair, though, brought some respectability to the hosts’ batting response. As they did against England at Lord’s and against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo previously to post Ireland’s two highest partnerships in Test history, the pair held the innings together. Adair didn’t mind playing T20 shots or moving around the crease early on, but once the sun came out, locked in for a more patient batting innings.

McBrine was enterprising with the cut, and survived a Daryl Mitchell drop at slips, to bring up his half-century in the last over before tea. A few balls later, the partnership crossed hundred, and the teams left the field for the session break at 139 for 6.

It was Smith who broke the partnership, with a short ball that rose uncomfortably to Adair. Once he walked back for 40 and with Ireland at 154 for 7, McBrine soon ran out of partners. New Zealand’s seamers opted for a short-ball tactic against the lower-order batters and that saw Thomas Mayes holing out to deep square leg and Reuben Wilson gloving a catch to slip. McBrine remained unbeaten on 73.

After following-on, Ireland made a much better start, with openers Doheny and Balbirnie putting on 42 for the first wicket. Balbirnie was out nicking behind to Blair Tickner, and the bowler added a second by getting Carmichael edging to slip too.

Earlier in the day, overnight batters Blundell and Foxcroft began the morning by wearing down the Irish bowling attack in the first innings after starting from 361 for 5. Ireland were without Adair – the bowler – for the morning session, and as the highest wicket-taker of day one, he was missed.

The two batters were careful against the swinging ball and seaming track in the early stages but once New Zealand went to the first drinks break without any wickets lost, they changed gears with declaration in sight.

Blundell was particularly strong with his pulls and flat-batted shots between midwicket and long on, getting on top of the leg-stump line and short-ball plan that Liam McCarthy operated on. Foxcroft struck six fours and one six in his innings, unafraid to use his crease either laterally or down the track, to get on top of the home side’s bowling.

Their sixth-wicket stand of 158 for the sixth wicket – which followed up from the 217-run fifth-wicket stand between Blundell and Ravindra on day one – pulverised Ireland. Blundell was out for 186 in the 114th over, out at midwicket looking for more big hits off Wilson’s bowling. Foxcroft, two short of a ton on Test debut, got a top-edge to fine leg off McBrine’s offspin in the 119th over.

In between, Nathan Smith was run-out for 17 courtesy a smart team run-out between substitute fielder Jake Egan and wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker. New Zealand declared on 490 for 8, giving their new-ball bowlers a few overs before lunch, during which time Smith struck twice to add to the visitors’ advantage en route to his six-for.

Brief scores:
Ireland 179 in 45 overs (Andy McBrine 73*, Mark Adair 40;  Nathan Smith 6-40, Ben Sears 2-27) and [f/o] 65 for 2 in 16 overs (Stephen Doheny 36*; Blair Tickner 2-14) trail New Zealand 490 for 8 dec in 119 overs (Rachin Ravindra 121, Tom Blundell 186, Dean Foxcroft 98; Markm Adair 3-66) by 246 runs

The West Indies men’s side will play home series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan during the 2026 season, with the tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan including Test matches, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Thursday.

Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, will host the white-ball matches against Sri Lanka between June 3 and 14, with the Test matches, which will start on June 25 and July 3, to be played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at North Sound in Antigua.

The New Zealand tour will only feature five ODIs, to be played at Guyana’s National Stadium (first three) and Kensington Oval in Barbados (last two) between July 11 and 21.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), under the direction of the Cricket Transformation Committee launched a special program aimed at educating and developing school cricket coaches in the country.

The inaugural session of the program was held on Monday, 25th May, at the High Performance Center of the SLC with the participation of 74 coaches representing Division ‘1’ and ‘2’ schools.

The Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Men’s Team Gary Kirsten conducted a two-hour session for the participating coaches. During the session, Kirsten shared valuable insights into modern coaching methods and highlighted key areas coaches should focus on in order to nurture talented and promising young cricketers.

He emphasized the importance of creating a friendly and supportive environment for children while teaching them cricketing skills. Kirsten also noted that coaches must continuously improve their own skill levels in order to develop successful players. He encouraged school coaches to focus more on producing good cricketers rather than simply concentrating on winning matches.

Joining Kirsten at the program were Ryan van Niekerk, National Bowling Coach, and Jordan Gregory, National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach, who also shared their expertise and experiences with the school coaches.

Sidath Wettimuny, Chairman of the Cricket Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, who is also a member of the Cricket Transformation Committee, did the introductory speech of the program.

The program also featured an interactive Question-and-Answer session, giving participants the opportunity to engage directly with Gary Kirsten and further enhance their knowledge.

This program will continue periodically, with the objective of developing highly skilled and knowledgeable coaches within the Sri Lankan school cricket system.