Pakistan, May 31 -- New Zealand captain Tom Latham praised batter Tom Blundell and bowler Nathan Smith as the Black Caps warmed up for their first test against England at Lord's next week with a one-sided victory over Ireland in Belfast on Friday.

The tourists won by an innings and 79 runs after putting aside their early struggles with the bat to secure a sizeable victory in the one-off test, with Blundell top-scoring with 186 runs during a 217-run partnership with Rachin Ravindra.

"We were put under pressure on that first day - to be four down reasonably early with not many on the board," said Latham after seeing his side fall to 86 for 4 inside the opening 23 overs.

"The introduction of Tom absorbed quite a lot of pressure, and be ab...