Kerala Blasters FC split honours with Jamshedpur FC on the night, playing out a 1-1 draw, but rode on two top-draw defensive displays to pip the League Shield winners 2-1 on aggregate over two legs and qualify for their first Indian Super League final since 2016, on Tuesday.
Adrian Luna (18th) opened the scoring for Kerala with a stunning goal before Pronay Halder (50th) pulled one back for the Red Miners who needed one more goal to take the game to extra time.
The Blasters defence though held firm to confirm a place in the summit clash for the first time since their defeat to the Kolkata-side then called Atletico de Kolkata.
In the first leg, Sahal Abdul Samad scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Kerala,for whom this will be the third ISL final. They were the finalists in the inaugural 2014 edition as well, again losing to ATK.
The Blasters will now face the winner of the tie between Hyderabad FC and ATK Mohun Bagan, with the Hyderabad team carrying a 3-1 lead from the first leg.