On 292 for two overnight, Ireland had to wait 90 additional minutes to resume after a heavy shower swept across the ground just as the umpires were walking out at 11 o’clock, but when they did Andrew Balbirnie and John Anderson carried on from where they had left off on Tuesday evening.
They extended their third-wicket stand to 183 before Shane Snater, who had bowled well throughout with minimal luck, induced Anderson, on 74 to edge a well-directed delivery through to keeper Tobias Visée.
The hour’s play before lunch saw Ireland add 62 runs, Gary Wilson lending excellent support as Balbirnie, continuing to play with great discipline and surviving one clear chance to Peter Borren at first slip, moved on to 156 by the interval.
The question now was how long skipper William Porterfield would keep the Dutch in the field, and it was evident that a double-hundred for Balbirnie was at least part of the agenda.
He and Wilson put on 76 together, but when the latter had made 39 he hooked a Snater delivery into the hands of Quirijn Gunning at deep fine leg, and two more wickets for the Dutch seamer quickly followed: Kevin O’Brien, after hitting Max O’Dowd for four and six, holed out to Saqib Zulfiqar at deep backward square, and Simi Singh was trapped in front next ball.
This was the cue for Balbirnie, who had now reached 185, to go onto the attack, and he moved onto 200 three overs later; but it was Jacob Mulder who went after a tired Dutch attack, smacking a 22-ball, unbeaten 38 which included two fours and three sixes.
Balbirnie finished on 205, his marathon innings lasting more than seven hours and taking 336 deliveries, including 23 fours and two sixes; he was particularly strong square of the wicket but also drove impressively through cover and mid-off.
Snater, who bowled well throughout the innings, deserved even better figures than his five for 116 from 36 overs, while Gunning was still more unfortunate in that he finished wicketless, his 35 overs yielding 137.
Set to chase Ireland’s 477 for six, the Dutch had scarcely started their reply before rain again intervened, and tea was taken early.
Boyd Rankin quickly established himself as the danger man, causing problems for all the Dutch top order, and his pace and bounce accounted for Wesley Barresi, caught in the slips in the fourth over, and debutant Saqib Zulfiqar, who could only fend a short delivery to short leg.
That left the Netherlands on 9 for two, but when Ben Cooper joined Dan ter Braak, another of the debutants in the side, this pair steadied the ship, adding 83 in 30 overs before Tim Murtagh trapped Ter Braak in front for 32.
The situation demanded discipline, but with leg-spinner Jacob Mulder operating at one end and the pacemen rotating at the other, this proved to be more than the Dutch middle order could manage.
Stef Myburgh’s dismissal was perhaps unfortunate, as after hitting three excellent boundaries his full-blooded pull off Mulder was well caught by Kevin O’Brien at short midwicket, but Peter Borren’s attempted slog-sweep before he had scored was at best reckless in the context of the game.
Only Cooper seemed to be in control of the situation, and he had moved on to 81 by the close, supported in the final eight overs of the day by Max O’Dowd.
Apart from Rankin’s menace, Murtagh, Peter Chase and, briefly, O’Brien all maintained the pressure on the Dutch batsmen, while Mulder always looked likely to achieve a breakthrough.
Still needing 188 to avoid the follow-on, the Netherlands will face a daunting task on Thursday, while Ireland will be keen to finish the innings off quickly and – with the forecast for Friday less than promising – press on towards the outright victory they need to stay within reach of Intercontinental Cup rivals Afghanistan.