Nathan Smith stars as Dean Foxcroft falls short of debut test ton for dominant Black Caps against Ireland
Friday, 29 May 2026
One-off test, Belfast: New Zealand 490-8 declared (Tom Blundell 186, Rachin Ravindra 121, Dean Foxcroft 98; Mark Adair 3-66) vs Ireland 179 (Andy McBrine 73 not out, Adair 40; Nathan Smith 6-40) and 65-2. Click here for full scorecard.
With his bigger name team-mates absent, seamer Nathan Smith grabbed his opportunity.
Smith’s record-setting six-wicket haul on day two of the test will have sealed his spot for the series-opener in England, as the Black Caps continued to dominate the four-day encounter versus Ireland.
Smith took 6-40 as the hosts were rolled for just 179 in their first innings on day two in Belfast overnight (NZ time).
The partner of White Ferns captain Melie Kerr dismissed four of Ireland's top-six batters for ducks - understood to be a test record - and had his five-wicket bag from only 29 balls, 10 faster than the previous fastest by Shane Bond.
New Zealand captain Tom Latham then somewhat surprisingly made Ireland follow-on, 311 runs behind on their first innings after the Black Caps had declared in the first session at 490-8.
At stumps, Ireland were 65-2 in their second innings, still requiring another 246 runs to make NZ bat again.
Dean Foxcroft fell two runs short of a century on test debut before Smith got a rare opportunity with the new ball at test level and ripped through Ireland’s top-order.
He reduced them to 38-6, before a century stand for the seventh wicket restored a little pride for the hosts, until Smith struck again before Ben Sears wrapped up the tail.
Prior to the first test to be contested between the two sides, Smith would have been considered a likely part of the expected pace attack to start the three-test series against England at Lord’s next week.
His performance on day two confirmed that place - now we’ll have to wait to see if Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke and Kyle Jamieson will be ready to join him in the XI.
That trio missed the test in Stormont, with Henry suffering a low-grade hamstring strain, and the other duo sent to England to prepare in training for the series which offers World Test Championship points.
Latham must have been tempted to bat a second time after Ireland had batted for for just 45 overs, as there was still ample time to do so and still register a test victory.
The skipper made a second-ball duck on day one, while fellow opener Devon Conway (4) and Daryl Mitchell (1) would have loved another bat against the Dukes ball after a diet of white-ball cricket in recent months.
Foxcroft was crestfallen to be dismissed just short of his quest to notch a debut test ton as it was accelerated by the timing of the declaration.
Resuming on his overnight tally of 38, the South African-born right-hander had struck six fours and a six from 128 balls as he assiduously worked towards the landmark, but couldn’t keep a sweep off offspinner Andy McBrine on the ground and was caught by fellow test debutant Reuben Gibson at short fine leg.
He’d put on 158 for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell, who registered his highest test score in reaching 186 from 292 deliveries. The 35-year-old slammed three sixes and 22 fours to continue his love affair with batting in that part of the world ahead of the England series.