Punjab Kings signed young Australian all-rounder Cooper Connolly for Rs 3 crore in the IPL 2026 auction, and in his maiden IPL season, the 22-year-old left-handed batter from Perth has played all 13 matches so far for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. In 12 innings of IPL 2026, Connolly has scored a total of 473 runs for Punjab Kings and hammered 32 sixes and 39 fours. A total of 32 sixes by Connolly in IPL 2026 has helped him break Sanath Jayasuriya’s 18-year-old IPL record of hitting the most sixes in a maiden IPL season.
IPL 2026 | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap
Jayasuriya, who is one of the greatest cricketers of all time, hammered 31 sixes in 14 matches of the inaugural edition of the IPL for Mumbai Indians.
In the list of batters with
most sixes in their maiden IPL season, Connolly and Jayasuriya are followed by Jake Fraser-McGurk and Finn Allen. While Fraser-McGurk hammered 28 sixes for Delhi Capitals in 2024, Allen has hit 27 sixes so far for Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing 2026 edition.
Most sixes in first IPL season
| PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | RUNS | SIXES | EDITION |
| Cooper Connolly | Punjab Kings | 13* | 473 | 32* | 2026 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 514 | 31 | 2008 |
| Jake Fraser-McGurk | Delhi Capitals | 9 | 330 | 28 | 2024 |
| Finn Allen | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 | 321 | 27 | 2026 |
| Shaun Marsh | Punjab Kings | 11 | 616 | 26 | 2008 |
| Yusuf Pathan | Rajasthan Royals | 16 | 435 | 25 | 2008 |
| Priyansh Arya | Punjab Kings | 17 | 475 | 25 | 2025 |
| Ewin Lewis | Mumbai Indians | 13 | 382 | 24 | 2018 |
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | Rajasthan Royals | 7 | 252 | 24 | 2025 |
Connolly, who is the youngest overseas batter in IPL history to score a century, played an impactful knock of 37 runs from 22 balls for Punjab Kings on Sunday, May 17.
During his stay at the crease against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala, he hammered 3 fours and 3 sixes to help them bounce back from early dismissals of Priyansh Arya (0), Prabhsimran Singh (2) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (1).
Cooper Connolly in IPL 2026 (innings by innings)
| AGAINST | RUNS | BALLS | 4/6s | VENUE | DATE |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 72* | 44 | 5/5 | New Chandigarh | March 31 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 36 | 22 | 6/0 | Chennai | April 3 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | Did Not Bat | – | 0/0 | Kolkata | April 6 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 11 | 12 | 1/0 | New Chandigarh | April 11 |
| Mumbai Indians | 17 | 12 | 1/2 | Mumbai (WS) | April 16 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 87 | 46 | 8/7 | New Chandigarh | April 19 |
| Delhi Capitals | 17 | 10 | 1/1 | Delhi | April 25 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 30 | 14 | 2/3 | New Chandigarh | April 28 |
| Gujarat Titans | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | Ahmedabad | May 3 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 107* | 59 | 7/8 | Hyderabad | May 6 |
| Delhi Capitals | 38 | 27 | 3/2 | Dharamsala | May 11 |
| Mumbai Indians | 21 | 22 | 2/1 | Dharamsala | May 14 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 37 | 22 | 3/3 | Dharamsala | May 17 |
The record of hitting most sixes in one edition of the IPL is in the name of Chris Gayle. In the 2012 edition of IPL, Gayle played 15 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and hammered 59 sixes. He is followed by Andre Russell. Russell hammered 52 sixes for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2019 edition of the IPL. In that edition, Russell played 14 matches for the Dinesh Karthik-led side.
