New Chandigarh, April 20 (IANS) Punjab Kings’ Australian recruit Cooper Connolly said the camaraderie within the squad has made his IPL experience enjoyable, adding that he is eager to see how the rest of the tournament unfolds for the side.

PBKS continued their unbeaten run and maintained their pole position in IPL 2026 points table with a 54-run win over Lucknow Super Giants at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium.

Priyansh Arya struck 93 while Connolly hit 87 to power PBKS to this season’s highest total of 254/7. The duo shared a match-defining partnership of 182 runs for the second wicket and hit 16 sixes between themselves.

“It feels good. It’s always nice to sort of run out with a fellow two Aussies, but no, it’s been enjoyable. The group’s been great and really looking forward to, I guess, the rest of the tournament. But it’s been nice,” said Connolly in a video posted on IPL’s website on Monday.

His Australian compatriot, batting all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, admitted he was pleased to finally spend some time in the middle after limited batting opportunities this season. During his 16-ball 29, Stoinis also smashed two flat sixes, which left everyone in awe of it.

“They shouldn’t be going flat. They should be going a bit higher, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a hit in the middle now. So we’ve been going so well, I haven’t been required to bat. So it’s nice to just hit a couple and when you swing that hard, they go flat or they go up,” he said.

On the ‘Bas Jeetna Hai’ tagline used by PBKS for this season so far after being runners-up in IPL 2025, Stoinis said, “I’m pretty sure it means, so far, we’re winning all our games. So may it continue for us.”

–IANS

nr/