Dhangadhi, February 11 Kathmandu Goldens made the winning start in the Ruslan Dhangadhi Premier League with a four-wicket victory over Dhangadhi Stars in the opening match here at the proposed Fapla International Stadium today. Invited to take first strike, the Stars posted 132-5 in their allotted 20 overs before the Goldens reached 133-6 with one ball to spare. Chasing a modest target, the Goldens were reduced to 104-6 in 17 overs before Mehboob Alam and Bikram Bhusal took the team home with a 29-run partnership for the unbroken seventh wicket. Alam struck the winning boundary off Amir Hayat in the penultimate ball of the match on his way to scoring unbeaten 12 off 10 balls. Bhusal played pivotal role in winning the match with 10-ball 14 not out that included two sixes. Indian recruit Ankit Dabas top scored for the Goldens with 29 off 23 balls hitting two each four and sixes, while Gaurav Omar, also from India, struck three fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 28. Anil Sah scored 24 off 40 balls hitting two fours. Roshan Mustafa, who brought back the Kings into the match by claiming four wickets in the space of 10 runs, returned with the figures of 4-27, while Hayat and Bipin Khatri took one wicket each. Earlier, Amit Shrestha scored the tournament’s first half century but he ended up in the losing side. Shrestha scored run-a-ball 50 hitting four boundaries and two sixes. Sandeep Rajali scored 28 off 35 balls that included four boundaries, while Saurav Khanal scored an unbeaten 25 off just 10 balls with the help of three fours and a six. Pawan Sarraf contributed 18-ball 19. Nandan Kumar Yadav took 2-8 from three overs, while Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi and Dabas claimed one wicket each for the Kings. Dabas was later named the man of the match. In another match, Rupandehi Challengers defeated Mahendranagar United by two runs. The Challengers were all out for 111 runs in 20 overs before United reached 109-8. The Challengers needed 12 runs from the final over and they managed just nine runs after Krishna Karki dismissed Mohammad Naveed in the first ball for his only wicket of the match. Amar Singh Routela and Abinash Bohara could not manage the required runs in the last five balls. Bohara faced two balls scoring three runs, while Routela took doubles in all three balls. The Challengers struggled from the beginning losing opener Pradeep Singh Airee with just five runs on the board and they were 55-5 inside 10 overs. Sumit Maharjan was the top scorer with 27 off 35 balls that included a four and two sixes, while Binod Bhandari scored 16-ball 19 with the help of a boundary and two sixes. Bikram Sob (16 not out), Sandeep Sunar (15) and Babar Hayat (14) also contributed in double figures. The Challengers should have been all out for 99 runs but the United skipper Sharad Vesawkar dropped Sob and that cost the team dear. Siddhant Lohani was the pick of the United bowlers taking 3-19, while Abinash Bohara claimed 2-18. In reply, the United were 10-0 in just two balls after Lalit Singh Bhandari conceded two successive boundaries in wide balls but still they fell short by two runs. They were nicely cruising at 61-3 in 12.4 overs before United lost three wickets in the space of five runs to be 66-6. Rohit Kumar Paudel and Mohammad Naveed added 34 runs for the seventh wicket to take the team to within 12 runs of victory with nine balls remaining. But United could not get those runs and fell three runs short. Subramanian Anand top scored for United with 25 off 34 balls that included a four and two sixes, while Paudel struck two boundaries and a six in his 21-ball 24. Naveed (12) was the other batsman to score in double figures. Man-of-the-match Bikram Sob was the pick of the Challengers bowlers taking 3-24, while Puneet Mehra claimed 2-13. Lalit Singh Bhandari, Krishna Karki and skipper Basant Regmi pocketed one wicket each. A total of six city-based franchise teams are taking part in the tournament organised by Dhangadhi Cricket Academy under the sponsorship of Jawalakhel Group of Industries. Top two teams will earn three million rupees and Rs 1.2 million, while third and fourth placed teams will earn Rs 400,000 and Rs 200,000 respectively.