Now I'm in the final and there is every chance I can do it Mark Selby

Murphy and Selby went into their final session at 12-12 and were tied at 14-14 at the mid-session interval.

The tight and tense encounter saw Murphy give himself a two-frame cushion at 16-14 after Selby missed a blue.

But Selby won the next two frames, aided by a break of 68, and held his nerve to clinch the decider with a 64.

Interview: Mark Selby

The 'Jester from Leicester' greeted the victory with a subdued punch in the air, but he had every right to show more emotion after a stunning encounter.

The first four frames of the session were filled to the brim with quality - Murphy twice taking the lead with century breaks, and Selby twice drawing level with breaks of 101 and 71.

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A fabulous 132 break saw Murphy regain the lead for the third time in the day and he moved to within a frame of victory when he edged a titanic 30th frame.

Runs of 46 and 25 put Murphy 71 points ahead and left Selby needing a four-point snooker to tie the frame, but the Leicester man earned a six-point penalty with a fabulous snooker behind the pink to become favourite to win it.

However, he missed the blue to hand the frame to Murphy and it looked to have killed off his challenge.

Not so, though, as a break of 68 made it 16-15 and he edged a nervy 32nd frame to take it to a decider.

I held myself tegether very well, I thought, and now I'm living a dream Mark Selby

Ironically, Selby had not looked calmer than he did in the final frame and a splendid run of 64 effectively sealed him the win and a place in the final against Higgins.

"I held myself tegether very well, I thought, and now I'm living a dream," he said after the match. "This is what I've dreamt of since I was a kid.

"At 16-14 down, I just thought 'stay positive'. I wasn't going to give in and I just wanted to stick in there.

"I managed to come through in the end, and there was no point in the match where I doubted I could do it.

"Now I'm in the final and there is every chance I can do it."