Scorchers star Cooper Connolly has become the youngest overseas player to score a century in the Indian Premier League.
Connolly Creates IPL History
The left-hander belted an unbeaten 107 off just 59 balls to break Quinton de Kock’s decade-old record.
Connolly’s knock continued his superb debut IPL season for Punjab Kings, who fell 33-runs short of Sunrisers Hyderabad in a top-of-the-table clash at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Set 236 for victory following an early blitz by Sunrisers Hyderabad’s openers Abishek Sharma and Travis Head, Connolly’s knock was the highlight of in Punjab’s reply of 7-202.
After entering the final over of the chase on 95, Connolly moved to three figures while playing a flamboyant pull shot off a short ball from spinner Shivang Kumar.
Despite his heroics with the bat, Connolly was beaten for player-of-the-match honours by Australian captain Pat Cummins, who took 2-34 off his four overs.
The 22-year-old is now Punjab Kings lead run scorer in the tournament, with 377 runs at 53.85 at a strike rate of 171.36.
His century followed stunning knocks of 72 and 87 against Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants respectively earlier in the tournament.
After a strong start to the tournament which saw them notch six wins and one washout from its first seven games, three straight losses have seen Punjab Kings slip to second on the table.
Punjab Kings next match is against Delhi Capitals on Monday night.
Fellow Scorchers Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis will be in action for Lucknow Super Giants against Royal Challengers Bengaluru tonight.