New Zealand's Jacob Duffy broke a 40-year-old national record in the third Test against West Indies on Monday (December 22).
Jacob Duffy overtakes Richard Hadlee
On day five at Mount Mauganui, Duffy was the wrecker-in-chief as the hosts secured a 323-run win in the final session of the match, having entered the day with a draw looking highly likely. The big quick took the wickets of top-scorer Brandon King (67) before ripping out the middle-order of Alick Athanaze, Justin Greaves and Roston Chase for a combined seven runs. He returned to take the final wicket that sealed the match.
3rd Test, New Zealand vs West Indies
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Duffy finished with 5-42, adding to his 4-86 in the first innings to record career-best match figures of 9-128. In the process, Duffy ended the calendar year of 2025 with 81 international wickets to his name, a new record for New Zealand. He overtook Richard Hadlee's tally of 79 wickets in 1985.
The split of his wickets reads 25 in Tests, 21 in ODIs and 35 in T20Is. Duffy is currently the ICC's No.2-ranked bowler in the shortest format, and last week earned his first IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Duffy rounds off 2025 with host of records
He debuted in Test cricket only this year, playing one match against Zimbabwe before the three against West Indies. Those four games have yielded 25 wickets, which is a joint-record for New Zealand in one's first four matches. Jack Cowie, whose first four Tests were interrupted by World War II, also took 25 wickets with hauls of 6-167, 10-140, 3-88 and 6-40. Overall, Cowie took 45 wickets in nine Tests, averaging 21.53.
Duffy finished with 23 wickets in the series, from three matches. This tally is the highest by a New Zealand bowler in a series of three Tests or fewer, since Hadlee against Australia in 1985/86; he took 33 in that series. Hadlee also picked up 23 wickets in Sri Lanka two seasons prior.
His three five-wicket hauls in this series are also a joint-New Zealand record, and the first instance for the Black Caps since 2004. Notably, Duffy took a five-for in each Test of the series, the third bowler from New Zealand to do so in a series of three or more matches after Hadlee v Australia in 1985/86 and Danny Morrison v India in 1989/90.
Most wickets for New Zealand in a calendar year, full list
| Player | Year | Matches | Wickets |
| Jacob Duffy | 2025 | 36 | 81 |
| Richard Hadlee | 1985 | 23 | 79 |
| Daniel Vettori | 2008 | 33 | 76 |
| Trent Boult | 2015 | 25 | 72 |
| Trent Boult | 2017 | 27 | 69 |
| Chris Cairns | 1999 | 30 | 68 |
| Daniel Vettori | 2004 | 34 | 66 |
| Trent Boult | 2018 | 27 | 66 |
| Tim Southee | 2022 | 31 | 65 |
| Matt Henry | 2025 | 27 | 65 |
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