Brisbane Heat failed to snatch a berth in the Big Bash League finals on Saturday as they lost by 26 runs to Melbourne Renegades, who secured a semi-final away to Adelaide Strikers next week.
The result in Queensland means Hobart Hurricanes, who lost to Melbourne Stars earlier in the day, retain fourth place and will face Perth Scorchers, the league leaders and defending champions, at the new Optus Stadium in the other last-four showdown.
The Renegades produced a composed, dominant performance batting first at the Gabba, where Tom Cooper (65 not out), Matthew Short (62) and Marcus Harris (42) steered them to 187-3 from their 20 overs.
Heat skipper Brendon McCullum took a sharp catch off Mitchell Swepson to remove Harris in the 10th over, but a lack of regular wickets left the hosts battling to stem the flow of runs.
And their hopes of mounting a successful run chase suffered a blow with the loss of Chris Lynn for 21, the explosive opener caught brilliantly by Harris from a full Kane Richardson delivery.
Alex Ross (36) and Ben Cutting (35) offered some resistance down the order, but Harris and Dwayne Bravo combined to remove Cutting and a stunning Jon Holland grab accounted for Ross, who had tried to cut Chris Tremain, as Brisbane were all out for 161.
CAUGHT SHORT BY LALOR JUGGLING ACT
The Heat left it late to finally dislodge Short, but when the wicket did arrive, it was worth waiting for.
Facing a full delivery aimed at middle stump, the opener struck a fierce drive down the ground, Josh Lalor somehow stopping the ball with his right hand and then holding onto it with his left.
RICHARDSON, RENEGADES GAIN REVENGE AFTER CUTTING ONSLAUGHT
Cutting threatened to revive the Heat's faltering run chase when he powered three successive sixes off Richardson (4-35) in the 15th over, clubbing a pull over midwicket and then powering the next two over long on.
But the Australian quick, who had already accounted for dangermen Lynn and McCullum (five), bounced back to help clean up the tail, removing Lalor (1) and Yasir Shah (0), before Bravo (3-25) finished the job by claiming the scalp of Swepson with a yorker off the penultimate ball.
Bravo was also the beneficiary of a stunning Cooper grab to remove Test batsman Matt Renshaw (22).
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