Black Caps bowler Jacob Duffy hoists IPL trophy in debut season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Monday, 1 June 2026

Royal Challengers Bengaluru players celebrate with the IPL trophy. Jacob Duffy is directly above Virat Kohli.

Black Caps pace bowler Jacob Duffy celebrated an Indian Premier League title at his first attempt, as cricketing megastar Virat Kohli led their Royal Challengers Bengaluru to victory in the final.

Duffy went wicketless with the new ball but RCB were too strong in the decider, beating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in Ahmedabad on Monday (NZT) thanks to Kohli’s rapid 75 not out.

Now, rather than join his Black Caps team-mates in England, Duffy will return home to wife Tash to await the birth of their first child.

It continued Duffy’s remarkable highlights reel of the past year which saw him hit No 1 on the world T20I bowling rankings, secure his first IPL contract at a base price of around $380,000 at the player auction, then secure the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for men’s cricketer of the year in April.

“I’m honoured. These lists of [our top] names keep popping up for various things, records, awards and it doesn’t quite seem right to see my name amongst them,” Southlander Duffy said of his Hadlee medal in April.

“A lot of the dudes on them I grew up watching and idolising. It’s crazy seeing yourself in the same conversation as them.”

Duffy, originally picked as backup for Australian pace bowler Josh Hazlewood, played six games for RCB and snared nine wickets at an average of 29 including two three-wicket hauls.

In the final he opened the bowling and ended with 0-38 off four overs as Hazlewood (2-37), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-29) and Rasikh Salam (3-27) all combined to restrict Gujarat to 155-8.

Kohli then completed the job in a 42-ball innings which saw RCB get home with two overs to spare and successfully defend their title.

Black Caps allrounder Glenn Phillips was part of the Titans set-up but wasn’t required for the final. He played six matches in season 2026 for a modest return of 67 runs at 16.75, and strike rate of 124.

Phillips now jets to the UK to join the Black Caps for their three-test series starting at Lord’s on Thursday night.