Milind Kumar's all-round performance helped Kathmandu Gorkhas thrash defending champions Janakpur Bolts by 5 wickets in the first match of Nepal Premier League (NPL) Season 2 on Monday.

Last year, Janakpur defeated Kathmandu by 5 wickets in the league stage to win the title. But except for the first 2 overs, Kathmandu, coached by Monty Desai, completely controlled Janakpur in batting. Kathmandu, who failed to make it to the top four last year, started aggressively from the first match this time. 

Kathmandu achieved the target of 131 runs with two overs to spare under the floodlights that were lit for the first time at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium. Kathmandu countered by adding 55 runs in the first 6 overs of the power play. 

English player Charlesworth scored 46 runs in 23 balls and added 70 runs in 8 overs for the first wicket with Akash to give Kathmandu a great start. Charlesworth hit 5 fours and 3 sixes. Aakash, a member of Janakpur's title winning team last season, scored 39 runs off 45 balls with 5 fours.

Charlesworth was caught brilliantly by Janakpur's Yan Nicole Lofty Eaton in his own bowling. Bhim Sarki was out for 3 runs off 7 balls, but Aakash played with restraint and took Kathmandu's innings forward. Aakash was bowled by Sanjay Krishnamurthy.

Milind Kumar scored 19 runs off 22 balls with 1 six and John Simpson scored 13 runs off 6 balls with 1 four and 1 six. Gerhard Erasmus hit 1 and Mohammad Adil Ansari hit 1 six off 4 balls and remained unbeaten on 8 runs. Janakpur's Kishore Mahato, Anil Sah, Lalit Rajbanshi, Lofty Eaton and Krishnamurthy took 1 wicket each. Earlier, even though Asif Sheikh scored a half-century, Kathmandu did not allow Janakpur to score a big score. After Kathmandu won the toss, Janakpur, who came in to bat, could only score 130 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. 

Janakpur, who scored 26 runs without loss in the first 2 overs, reached 56-4 in 10 overs. American all-rounder Milind showed the magic of off-spin and caught Lahiru Milantha behind the wicket in the fifth over and dismissed captain Anil Shah, leading Kathmandu to a great comeback.

Lahiru scored 7 runs in 12 balls, while Anil could not open his account on his birthday. Milind, who scored two half-centuries against Nepal in the World Cup League 2 two weeks ago and a century and a half-century against the UAE, put Janakpur under high pressure by bowling Lofty Eaton for 2 runs in his next over. Player of the Match Milind took 3 wickets for just 15 runs in 4 overs. 

Kathmandu dominated the first 10 overs after Santosh Yadav bowled American batsman Krishnamurthy for 2 runs. Marquee player Asif scored 54 runs in 41 balls. He completed his half-century in 37 balls and hit 6 fours and 1 six. Shahash Alam had Asif caught by wicketkeeper Simpson. Lahiru Samrakoon was out for 22 runs in 21 balls. He was dismissed by Karan KC in the fifth ball of the last over and hit 2 sixes.

Rupesh Singh, who faced the last ball, hit a four. Mayan Yadav remained unbeaten on 34 runs. He hit 2 fours and 1 six in 29 balls. Apart from Milind, Shahab took 20 runs in 4 overs, Santosh 17 in 3 overs and Karan 30 in 4 overs from Kathmandu, taking 1 wicket each.