Titans beat Lions by 68 runs

De Kock and Davids brushed off the distraction of a lengthy rain delay to put on 118 for the first wicket in 11 overs, which set the Titans up for a total of 158 for two in 15 overs.

With the target adjusted upwards to 162 from 15 overs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method, the Lions threw everything they had at the Titans bowling but lost early wickets as a result, before eventually finishing on 93 for eight.

That gave the Titans victory by 68 runs, and a bonus point that was superfluous in terms of the log standings but which sent another message to the rest of the competition.

Rob Walter’s side had already qualified for a home final before the game, but reminded their challengers that it will take some performance to deny them the trophy.

The Titans’ first-wicket partnership has now notched up 317 runs in their last three games, with De Kock overcoming a slow start to the competition to become the leading run-scorer.

His brutal 88 from just 43 balls in this game included no fewer than seven sixes, and took his aggregate in the tournament to 397 runs from nine innings.

Davids was once again content to play a supporting role, but in such a prolific partnership that still amounted to 47 from 31 balls.

The pair had been disrupted by lightning and then rain after five overs, when they had already put 55 on the board, but got swiftly back to business once play resumed.

De Kock’s night got even better when he claimed three catches behind the wicket as the Lions sunk to 29 for five inside six overs, with Albie Morkel the chief destroyer as he took 3/13 in three overs.

The Lions had needed to win the game to keep their slim chance of reaching the play-off alive, but from that point all hope was lost.

Dominic Hendricks made something out of his call-up to the side by scoring an unbeaten 43, but Thami Tsolekile was the only other batsman to reach double figures on an evening that the Lions would prefer to forget. - ANA