Delhi Capitals will meet Mumbai Indians in the final of the Indian Premier League after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in Abu Dhabi.
Delhi were taken to 189-3 by 78 from Shikhar Dhawan and Shimron Hetmyer’s 42 not out.
Sunrisers were reduced to 44-3 in the chase, only to be kept alive by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
But after he went for 67, Kagiso Rabada took three wickets in the 19th over to effectively seal it for Delhi.
The Capitals, previously Delhi Daredevils, have never reached the IPL final before.
The showpiece will be a meeting between the top two teams from the group stage, who also met in the first match of the play-offs.
On that occasion, defending champions Mumbai were comfortable winners, securing a direct passage to the final and sending Delhi to a second-chance meeting with Sunrisers.
Hyderabad, coached by ex-England boss Trevor Bayliss, finished third in the group, but were arguably favourites to progress given their previous form of four successive wins was vastly superior to the Capitals’ five defeats in six games.
However, after winning the toss, Delhi seized the initiative through a blistering opening stand of 86 in only 8.2 overs between Dhawan and Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.
After Stoinis was bowled by Rashid Khan, Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer laboured over his 21, only for West Indian Hetmyer to restore the momentum.
Sunrisers, who again omitted England’s Jonny Bairstow, saw captain David Warner bowled by Rabada in the second over of their reply.
Stoinis removed Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey in the same over before Williamson set about an improbable recovery operation.
Batting with masterful authority, Williamson was threatening to pull off something remarkable when he sliced Stoinis to deep cover.
He had at least given Sunrisers hope, only for that to be extinguished by Rabada’s burst of three wickets in four balls.