COIMBATORE: Openers Arun Karthik and D Santhosh Kumar gave Nellai Royal Kings a dominant start, helping them chase down 162/5 and defeat Trichy Grand Cholas in their TNPL match in Coimbatore on Saturday.

Earlier, medium-pacer R Sonu Yadav claimed a hat-trick as Nellai Royal Kings restricted Trichy Grand Cholas to 157/8.

Trichy had been steadied by a gutsy 41 from HI Waseem Ahmed and a pugnacious 39 from Jafar Jamal, whose 48-run stand for the third wicket lifted the side after being put in to bat. However, Yadav stole the show with the sixth hat-trick in tournament history, striking in the final over of the innings.

He dismissed U Mukilesh, P Saravana Kumar and J Koushik in quick succession. R Raj Kumar remained unbeaten on 30.

Brief Scores: Trichy Grand Cholas 157/8 in 20 overs (Waseem Ahmed 41, Jafar Jamal 39, Sonu Yadav 3/22) lost to Nellai Royal Kings 162/5 in 19.2 overs (Arun Karthik 41, D Santhosh Kumar 45, U Mukilesh 3/23)