CHENNAI: Surya Anand's four-wicket haul and Balchander Anirudh's gritty knock of 48 helped Siechem Madurai Panthers defeat Nellai Royal Kings by 10 runs in a TNPL match on Wednesday.

Earlier, left-handers B Anirudh and Atheeq Ur Rahman shared a stand of 61 off 44 balls for the fourth wicket to enable Siechem Madurai Panthers to post a fighting total of 168/9.

This came after off-spinner B Rocky's double strike in the fourth over, dismissing skipper NS Chaturved and S Shyam Sundar, put the brakes on Madurai Panthers early after they were asked to bat first following a 35-minute delayed start due to rain.

The Royal Kings restricted Madurai Panthers to 35/3 at the end of the Powerplay before the free-striking pair of Anirudh (48, 37b, 3x4, 2x6) and Atheeq (36, 27b, 2x4, 2x6) turned on the heat, taking 21 runs off off-spinner P Nirmal Kumar in the 11th over.

Pacer Sonu Yadav provided a crucial breakthrough upon his introduction in the 12th over, having Anirudh caught in the covers.

Switching ends in the 15th over, Sonu struck twice more, dismissing S Ganesh and Atheeq to reduce Madurai Panthers to 118/6 after 15 overs.

However, left-hander P Saravanan and Gurjapneet Singh struck some lusty blows to lift the side during the death overs, adding 43 off 16 balls for the ninth wicket.

Brief scores: Siechem Madurai Panthers 168/9 in 20 oversh (Anirudh Balchander 48, Sonu Yadav 3-41) bt Nellai Royal Kings 158 in 18.5 overs (Arun Karthik 67, Surya Anand 4/24)