Kathmandu Gorkhas defeated defending champions Janakpur Bolts by five wickets in the opening match of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) at the TU International Cricket Ground on Monday.

Kathmandu chased the 131-run target losing five wickets with 12 balls remaining.

Ben Charlesworth top-scored for Kathmandu with an impressive 46 before being dismissed by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton.

Aakash Tripathi played a crucial supporting role, making 39 runs before he was bowled by Sanjay Krishnamurthi. Milind Kumar added 19 runs, and his 26-run partnership with Tripathi kept the chase on course. Earlier, Bhim Sharki fell to Lalit Rajbanshi.

Janakpur had posted 130 for six after being invited to bat first, with Aasif Sheikh scoring a half-century. In reply, Kathmandu reached 101 runs at the end of 15 overs, maintaining control of the match.