Delhi Capitals huffed and puffed but eventually got over the line in a modest run-chase by five wickets to beat UP Warriorz and make their way into the Eliminator clash of the Women's Premier League, in Vadodara on Sunday.
Delhi's win, with five wickets and eight balls to spare, also knocked out the defending champions Mumbai Indians from the race to the WPL playoffs.
Delhi Capitals, who have featured in each of the three WPL finals so far but never got over the line, will face an upbeat Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator here at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday. The winner will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
Chasing 123, DC scored 126/5 after slipping from 84 for one to 101 for five.
Skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (34 not out off 18 balls; 5 fours) and Niki Prasad (4 not out) were on the crease when the winning runs of the low-scoring contest were hit.
Shafali Verma scored a patient 29 while Laura Wolvaardt hit a 36-ball 47 with seven fours to anchor Delhi's run chase after they restricted UPW to 122 for eight.
Shafali and Wolvaardt put on 73 off 64 balls for a robust recovery after an early blow in form of Lizelle Lee (10).
UPW, despite having two of the world's best spinners in Sophie Ecclestone (4-0-20-1) and Deepti Sharma (3.4-0-27-2), just did not have enough runs on the board to challenge the Capitals who had stuttered near the finish line.
Shafali and Wolvaardt had put DC on course of a comfortable win but they lost wickets in a flurry to raise UPW's hopes of a comeback. But skipper Jemimah struck two consecutive fours in the penultimate over from Deepti to thwart any further hiccups.
Earlier, Marizanne Kapp (3/30) and Chinelle Henry (2/25) delivered the goods as Delhi Capitals restricted a hapless UP Warriorz to a paltry 122 for eight.
UP Warriorz lost their skipper Meg Lanning on the first ball of the innings and failed to gain any momentum, losing wickets at regular intervals.
Kapp accounted for opener Deepti Sharma (24), Charli Knott (12) and Deandra Dottin (5). Henry also removed Simran Shaikh (22) when she threatened to pull things back for UPW.
Opening the innings, star India all-rounder Deepti tried her best to provide early momentum with a 19-ball 24, for which she struck four fours and a six.
But UPW failed to get any partnership going which hurt their cause. Simran Shaikh tried to change the course of the innings with a brisk 14-ball 22 with three fours, but she too fell at a wrong juncture for UPW.
Shikha Pandey (23 not out) played a handy knock late in the innings.