{"id":174368,"date":"2026-05-29T22:48:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174368"},"modified":"2026-05-29T22:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:18:03","slug":"ire-v-nz-latham-pleased-with-win-as-new-zealand-downs-ireland-ahead-of-england-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174368","title":{"rendered":"IRE v NZ\u2014 Latham pleased with win as New Zealand downs Ireland ahead of England Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"content-body-71040172\">New Zealand captain Tom Latham praised batter Tom Blundell and bowler Nathan Smith as \u200bthe Black Caps warmed up for their first Test against \u200cEngland at Lord\u2019s next week with a \u200bone-sided victory over Ireland in Belfast on \u2060Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The touring side won by an innings and 79 runs after putting aside its early struggles with the bat to \u200csecure a sizeable victory in the one-off Test, with Blundell top-scoring with 186 runs during \u200ca 217-run partnership with Rachin Ravindra.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were \u200cput \u2060under pressure on that first day &#8211; to be \u2060four down reasonably early with not many on the board,\u201d said Latham after seeing his side fall to 86 for 4 \u200binside the opening 23 \u200covers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe introduction of Tom absorbed quite a lot of pressure, and be able to put it back on them and form a really good \u200cpartnership, over 200.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand finished its first innings \u200bon 490 for eight declared before bowling Ireland out for 179 in its first \u2060stint at the crease, with Smith claiming six wickets for 40 runs as the visiting team enforced follow-on.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200cIrish could amass only a further 232 runs in their second innings to leave the New Zealanders comfortable winners before the first of their three Tests against the English throughout June.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA really pleasing performance,\u201d said Latham. \u201cWe spoke as a batting unit of \u200cgetting 400-plus in the first innings, and to get what \u200bwe did and to push towards the back end to give us a chance \u2060to bowl before lunch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing can replicate time on the park \u2060and backing days up, so it was a really good Test match for us. We\u2019ll \u200ctake a little bit of confidence from that into what we\u2019ve got coming up in a \u200bcouple of weeks. But really pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"publish-time\" id=\"end-of-article\">Published on May 30, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/sportstar.thehindu.com\/cricket\/ire-vs-nz-test-new-zealand-captain-tom-latham-comments-on-beating-ireland-england-test-prep\/article71040172.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Zealand captain Tom Latham praised batter Tom Blundell and bowler Nathan Smith as \u200bthe Black Caps warmed up for their first Test against \u200cEngland at Lord\u2019s next week with a \u200bone-sided victory over Ireland in Belfast on \u2060Friday. The touring side won by an innings and 79 runs after putting aside its early struggles &#8230; <a title=\"IRE v NZ\u2014 Latham pleased with win as New Zealand downs Ireland ahead of England Tests\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174368\" aria-label=\"Read more about IRE v NZ\u2014 Latham pleased with win as New Zealand downs Ireland ahead of England Tests\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP05_29_2026_000175B.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":173432,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=173432","url_meta":{"origin":174368,"position":0},"title":"Ravindra, Blundell hit centuries as NZ meets Ireland for first time in Tests","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell hit centuries as New Zealand recovered from losing two early wickets to reach 361-5 at Stumps on the opening day of its first-ever Test match against Ireland on Wednesday. Ravindra fell to Harry Tector\u2019s spin after scoring 121 runs. Blundell scored 142 not out. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Cricket_5419_.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Cricket_5419_.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Cricket_5419_.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Cricket_5419_.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Cricket_5419_.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":173052,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=173052","url_meta":{"origin":174368,"position":1},"title":"IRE vs NZ Live Score, Day 1 Only Test: Ireland wins toss, elects to bowl against New Zealand","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello and welcome to Sportstar\u2019s LIVE coverage of Day 1 of the one-off Test between Ireland and New Zealand, being held in Belfast from May 27-30.PLAXING XIIreland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Stephen Doheny, Cade Carmichael, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Liam McCarthy, Reuben Wilson, Thomas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HJUPOd0WAAEqwr1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HJUPOd0WAAEqwr1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HJUPOd0WAAEqwr1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HJUPOd0WAAEqwr1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/HJUPOd0WAAEqwr1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174330,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174330","url_meta":{"origin":174368,"position":2},"title":"IRE vs NZ highlights, Day 3, One-off Test: New Zealand beats Ireland by an innings and 79 runs","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello and welcome to Sportstar\u2019s highlights of Day 3 of the one-off Test between Ireland and New Zealand, held in Belfast from May 27-30.PLAYING XIIreland:\u00a0Andrew Balbirnie (c), Stephen Doheny, Cade Carmichael, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Liam McCarthy, Reuben Wilson, Thomas Mayes. 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The comprehensive victory saw New Zealand win with more than a day to spare in a match that was only scheduled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Test_Cricket_28479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Test_Cricket_28479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Test_Cricket_28479.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Test_Cricket_28479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ireland_New_Zealand_Test_Cricket_28479.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgnRh4-Jmo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=174368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/174369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=174368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=174368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=174368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}