CAPE TOWN: Kolkata Knight Riders produced a clinical performance in their concluding group league match as they comprehensively thrashed Titans by 99 runs in the Champions League Twenty20 here on Sunday night.

Put into bat, Kolkata scored an imposing 188 for five in 20 overs and then shot Titans out for a paltry 89 in 16.4 overs with paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji destroying the middle-order batting with four wickets for 19 runs.

Although it was only a consolation victory for Kolkata, but their performance will certainly have a bearing on the group table where Delhi Daredevils now have a very bright chance of making it to the last four.

It was a match where the Kolkata batsmen finally found some form going their way having lost both their matches on bouncy and seaming tracks.

After scoring 107 runs in the first 10 overs, the Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals yet managed to get 81 runs in the back 10 thanks to some fantastic late-order hitting by Debabrata Das.

The match was an inconsequential one for the IPL champions and their batsmen threw caution to the winds with an exhibition of some fine big hitting by the likes of skipper Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum and Debabrata.

Summarised scores:

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS 188-5 in 20 overs (G. Gambhir 44, D.B. Das 43 not out, B.B. McCullum 36, M.S. Bisla 27; R.E. van der Merwe 2-18); TITANS 89 in 16.4 overs (J.A. Rudolph 25; L. Balaji 4-19, M.K. Tiwary 2-8, Iqbal Abdulla 2-20).—Agencies