Watch: Cooper Connolly celebrates 56-ball century in SRH vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash

In the 236-run chase against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash for the Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the visitors lost several wickets inside the powerplay, including their captain, Shreyas Iyer, which was a body blow for them. 

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The fielding performance was a massive difference between the two franchises. Punjab Kings dropped four catches, three of which were of Ishan Kishan, who went to celebrate his half-century, while Heinrich Klaasen also clubbed a dashing knock after getting life.

Cooper Connolly celebrates maiden T20 century in IPL 2026

Cooper Connolly previously made the mistake of dropping Kishan’s catch. But he played a superb knock in the fixture against Hyderabad to get confidence for the remainder of the tournament.

Watch the video here: 

The left-handed batter started the third over with a fine boundary in the square of the pitch against Pat Cummins before getting under the full ball to slice it over the deep point region for a massive six. There was a moment when he couldn’t get the big shots due to the wickets falling from the other end.

But the Australian batter broke free with two successive sixes against the left-arm spinner, Harsh Dubey, before celebrating his half-century off just 34 deliveries. It was his third of the season, which is the most for the franchise in a season at an age of under 22.

Watch: Sunrisers Hyderabad dismiss Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh early in SRH vs PBKS IPL 2026 clash

Connolly continued his aggressive timing against Eshan Malinga with two more sixes back-to-back before taking on Harsh again with two sixes and one boundary in the penultimate over. He finally celebrated his century in 56 balls with a four. He also ended up being his first T20 century as he remained unbeaten on 107 runs off 59 balls, hitting eight sixes and seven boundaries at a strike rate of 181.96.

SRH tops points table with 33-run win over PBKS

Sunrisers finished with 235 runs for the loss of four wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Kishan nailed 55 runs in 32 balls with the help of two boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate of more than 170, while Klaasen clubbed 69 runs in 43 deliveries at a strike rate of 160.47, thanks to four sixes and three boundaries.

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Punjab, on the other hand, was restricted to 202/7 as they lacked the contribution from the top order. Due to the defeat, they dropped to the second position with 13 points in 10 games, while Hyderabad is at the top with 14 points in 11 games.

Brief Scores: SRH- 235/4 (Heinrich Klaasen 69, Ishan Kishan 55, Y Chahal 1/32) beat PBKS 202/7 (Cooper Connolly 107*, Pat Cummins 2/34) by 33 runs. 

Fans react to Connolly’s maiden IPL century vs SRH

Here is how the fans have reacted to the maiden IPL century of Connolly against Hyderabad-