Sunrisers Hyderabad Vs Punjab Kings Match Scorecard: Connolly’s Maiden Ton Wasn’t Enough as SRH Storm to Top of Table

There’s a special kind of cruelty in cricket where a young batter plays the innings of his career, becomes the youngest overseas player to score an IPL century, and still ends up on the losing side by 33 runs. That’s exactly the story of Cooper Connolly at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where Sunrisers Hyderabad piled up a mammoth 235/4 and then held on despite his stunning unbeaten 107. If you’re searching for the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings match scorecard, this breakdown gives you every run, every wicket, and the full story of a match that had fireworks in both innings.

What You’re Really Looking For

Anyone typing “SRH vs PBKS match scorecard” usually wants two things a quick score check, and the real story behind a genuinely high-scoring contest. This piece covers both, giving you instant answers up top and a deep dive into how SRH’s batting muscle overpowered one of the best individual innings of IPL 2026.

The Match Story: Batting Fireworks From the First Ball

Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to bowl first at a Hyderabad surface that turned out to be a genuine belter. It didn’t take long to see why that decision would backfire. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head came out swinging from the very first over, racing to a 54-run opening stand in just 3.2 overs.

Lockie Ferguson eventually got the breakthrough, removing Abhishek for 35 off just 13 balls, but Head kept the pace going, and SRH ended the powerplay at a scorching 79/1. Ishan Kishan then took over, reaching his fifty in just 31 balls, including a hat-trick of sixes off Vijaykumar Vyshak in one over.

Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen then stitched together an 88-run stand for the third wicket, completely nullifying whatever bowling plans Punjab Kings had walked in with. Kishan fell for 55, but Klaasen kept going, finding an ideal finishing partner in Nitish Kumar Reddy. The pair added 63 more runs in the final five overs, and SRH surged past 230 to finish at a daunting 235/4.

In reply, Punjab Kings needed something special just to stay competitive, and Cooper Connolly delivered exactly that. After a cautious start and two dropped catches that extended his innings, Connolly attacked ferociously, racing through the 70s with sixes off Eshan Malinga before reaching his century in the final over with a falling sweep for six. He finished unbeaten on 107 off 59 balls, with 7 fours and 8 sixes, but found little support around him. Marcus Stoinis (28) and Suryansh Shedge (25) offered brief resistance, but the required rate which hovered above 15 for most of the chase was simply too steep. Punjab Kings finished at 202/7, and SRH secured a comprehensive 33-run win to move to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.

Quick Answer

Result: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 33 runs.

Final score: SRH 235/4 in 20 overs; PBKS 202/7 in 20 overs.

Winner: Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Top performer: Cooper Connolly scored an unbeaten 107 off 59 balls for PBKS, though Pat Cummins won Player of the Match for SRH.

Key Highlights

• SRH posted a massive 235/4, powered by fifties from both Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen.
• Cooper Connolly smashed a maiden century, becoming the youngest overseas player to score an IPL ton.
• Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head put on 54 runs in the powerplay alone, racing to 79/1 in six overs.
• Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen added 88 runs together for SRH’s third wicket.
• Connolly survived two dropped catches on his way to his unbeaten 107.
• Pat Cummins was named Player of the Match for his all-round effort, taking 2/34 plus two catches.
• The win took Sunrisers Hyderabad to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.

Read Also:- Pakistan National Cricket Team Vs Sri Lanka National Cricket Team Match Scorecard

Full Match Scorecard

Sunrisers Hyderabad Innings 235/4 (20 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Abhishek Sharma	c fielder b Ferguson	35	13
Travis Head	c fielder b Vyshak	38	19
Ishan Kishan (c, wk)	c fielder b Arshdeep	55	32
Heinrich Klaasen	not out	69	43
Nitish Kumar Reddy	not out	29	13

Extras and total: SRH finished on 235/4 in 20 overs.

Punjab Kings Bowling Figures

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets
Lockie Ferguson	—	—	1
Vijaykumar Vyshak	—	—	1
Arshdeep Singh	—	—	1
Yuzvendra Chahal	4.0	32	1

Punjab Kings Innings 202/7 (20 overs)

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Cooper Connolly	not out	107	59	7	8
Marcus Stoinis	dismissed	28	14
Suryansh Shedge	dismissed	25	17
Shreyas Iyer (c)	dismissed	5	5

Total: PBKS 202/7 in 20 overs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Bowling Figures

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wickets
Pat Cummins (c)	4.0	34	2
Shivang Kumar	—	45	2
Sakib Hussain	—	40	1
Nitish Kumar Reddy	2.0	11	1

Turning Point: The Powerplay Assault That Set the Total Beyond Reach

If there’s one stretch that decided this match, it’s SRH’s opening powerplay. Racing to 79/1 in six overs meant SRH never had to play a single defensive over for the rest of their innings, and that early cushion is exactly what allowed Kishan and Klaasen to bat with total freedom in the middle overs. Once SRH crossed 230, the chase became less about skill and more about mathematics Punjab Kings needed a near-impossible rate for almost the entire second innings, and no single innings, however brilliant, was going to change that equation alone.

Top Performers, And Why They Mattered

Pat Cummins (Player of the Match) delivered the complete captain’s performance figures of 2/34 combined with two crucial catches in the field, and his smart bowling changes ensured Punjab Kings never found the momentum needed to make their chase truly threatening.

Cooper Connolly produced arguably the innings of the tournament in a losing cause, and his unbeaten 107 off 59 balls, including 8 sixes, made him the youngest overseas player to score an IPL century a genuinely historic individual achievement.

Heinrich Klaasen continued his rich form with an unbeaten 69 off 43 balls, and his 88-run stand with Kishan is what turned a good SRH total into an outright daunting one.

Ishan Kishan set the tone in the middle overs with a 31-ball fifty, including a hat-trick of sixes in a single over, ensuring Punjab Kings’ bowlers never got a foothold after the powerplay.

Why SRH Won, And Why PBKS Lost

SRH’s batting depth was simply too much for Punjab Kings to handle, with damage coming from every part of the order openers, middle order, and finishers all contributed meaningfully. Punjab Kings, in contrast, leaned almost entirely on one player; without genuine support around Connolly, even a maiden century couldn’t bridge a gap created by a required rate that hovered above 15 for most of the chase. Punjab’s fielding lapses, including the two dropped chances that extended Connolly’s innings, ultimately made little difference to the final outcome, since the total itself was always the bigger obstacle.

Read Also:- India National Cricket Team Vs West Indies Cricket Team Players

Match Stats & Records

• Highest partnership: Kishan and Klaasen’s 88-run stand for SRH’s third wicket.
• Key milestone: Cooper Connolly became the youngest overseas player to score a century in IPL history.
• Best bowling figures: Pat Cummins and Shivang Kumar shared the bowling honors for SRH, each picking up two wickets.
• Notable knock: Connolly’s unbeaten 107 off 59 balls, with 7 fours and 8 sixes, was the standout individual innings of the match.

Head-to-Head Context

Sunrisers Hyderabad have generally held the upper hand in recent meetings against Punjab Kings, and this result extended that trend further, pushing SRH to the top of the IPL 2026 points table. Punjab Kings, meanwhile, suffered their third straight defeat in this run of matches, highlighting a worrying pattern of over-reliance on individual brilliance rather than collective batting depth.

Pitch Report & Conditions

The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium surface played as a genuine batting paradise, offering true bounce and pace off the pitch that rewarded clean hitting all evening. Both teams combined for well over 430 runs, a clear sign that boundary-hitting was the name of the game rather than disciplined containment bowling. Conditions like these tend to punish any side that leans on a single batter rather than sharing the workload exactly the trap Punjab Kings fell into during their chase.

What This Result Means

For Sunrisers Hyderabad, this win was a statement of batting depth, and topping the points table with contributions from nearly every batter in the lineup signals a team peaking at the right time in the season. For Punjab Kings, Connolly’s century offers a genuine long-term positive a young overseas talent announcing himself on the biggest stage but the defeat also exposes a concerning reliance on one player carrying the batting load, a pattern that will need addressing if they’re to turn their season around.

Frequently Asked Questions