Liam McCarthy shines on Test debut but Ireland let promising early position slip as New Zealand take control at Stormont

Liam McCarthy enjoyed a stunning start to his Test match career in Belfast, holding a diving catch at mid-wicket and then claiming the prize wicket of New Zealand superstar Kane Williamson. Ireland dominated the early exchanges of the one-off Test, taking four wickets before lunch, but the rest of the day belonged to the visitors who closed on 361-5, with Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell both making centuries. One of three new Test caps, McCarthy’s confidence would have been buoyed by holding a half-chance — shoulder height and wide to his left — and gone through the roof when a ball that came back into Williamson saw his lbw appeal upheld. The Kiwi is one of the top three or four batters in the world and wickets don’t come much bigger for a rookie paceman, although Roger Whelan’s snaring of Sachin Tendulkar in 2007 probably still tops the Irish list.

Second best or not, it was a welcome early birthday present for the Railway Union paceman who turns 24 next week. While McCarthy and fellow debutants Reuben Wilson and Tom Mayes gave good accounts of themselves all day, it was old hand Mark Adair who bagged the other three wickets to fall in the morning session. The local lad from Holywood was on the board after two balls when New Zealand skipper Tom Latham obligingly left a delivery that clipped his off bail and a lazy legside clip by fellow opener Devon Conway gave McCarthy his chance to shine. Nagging as ever, and getting a degree of help from a slow pitch, Adair found just enough movement to have Daryl Mitchell caught behind in his second spell to leave New Zealand on 86-4.

The crowd at Stormont then saw why Balbirnie rates the Kiwis as having the strongest batting line-up his side have faced in Tests as Ravindra and Blundell repaired the innings with a composed stand of 217 from 55 overs. Ireland stuck to their task and if second slip had held a difficult low chance from Ravindra on 56 off Wilson, the day could have taken a very different turn. The 19-year-old paceman from Clontarf — the youngest Irishman to play Test cricket — did not look out of place on the big stage and deserved a wicket or two for his endeavours. Long touted as one for the future, he already looks ‘one for now’ and after opening the bowling Mayes at the start, Balbirnie had no hesitation in throwing the second new ball to Wilson in the final hour.

By then, Harry Tector’s occasional off-spin had bought the wicket of Ravindra for 121, well caught by Mayes running to his right at deep mid-wicket but that was Ireland’s last success and Blundell walked off unbeaten on 142.