New Zealand hold the upper hand after day one of the one-off Test at Stormont. No surprise in that but with three Test debutants in the Ireland bowling attack, to keep such a powerful batting line-up to less than four runs an over on a good pitch was a very satisfactory effort.

Mark Adair took three of the five wickets – the first to the second ball of the match – while Harry Tector also claimed his first Test victim as did Liam McCarthy, given his first red-ball match for Ireland, in preference to Craig Young.

As widely predicted, Tom Mayes and 19-year-old Reuben Wilson also received Test caps at the start of the day, Wilson the youngest to play a Test for Ireland and the first to make his debut in a Test match.

Andrew Balbirnie, to his delight, won the toss and asked the tourists to bat and although maybe seen as a defensive option, the lunchtime score of 104 for four more than justified his decision.

His opposite number, Tom Latham, after taking four leg byes from the first ball of the innings, played no shot to the second and lost his off stump.  With the first ball of his fourth over, Adair and Ireland had their second wicket, thanks to a spectacular diving catch at mid-wicket by McCarthy, to the shock of Devon Conway who had made only four.

The great Kane Williamson, however was digging in and looked in no trouble at all until McCarthy trapped him lbw in his crease to leave New Zealand on 85 for three. Two balls later it was 86 for four as Daryl Mitchell nicked off to give Adair his third wicket. And there was still half an hour to lunch.

The new ball had done its damage but as the constant sun beat down on the pitch, conditions got easier for batting and Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell led the fightback. Their partnership was worth 217, the fifth double century stand in Test cricket against Ireland and the highest for the fifth wicket.

Both scored centuries – Blundell’s off 173 deliveries, two balls quicker than Ravindra, who reached his 50 and 100 in the grand manner, with sixes off Adair and McCarthy respectively.

Tector’s off spin was given four overs before the second new ball was taken, and although Blundell helped himself to 18 runs off Harry’s first, the bowler had Ravindra caught at deep mid-wicket, in his third over.

After his onslaught, Blundell didn’t hit another boundary in the remaining 56 balls he faced but he is still there with the one Kiwi debutant, Dean Foxcroft, to resume their 58 runs partnership in the morning.

Andy McBrine, the only specialist spinner in the team after Ireland opted to go down  the four-seamer route, toiled for 15 overs without a hint of success and of the  new caps, Mayes was the most economical and Wilson the unluckiest, missing out on a first wicket when his captain failed to hold on at second slip, when Ravindra was on 54.