The world number two claimed a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 win at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, propelling herself into the last four of the event for the third consecutive year.

Victory secures her a second-place finish in the purple group and sets up an intriguing battle against world number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia tomorrow for a place in the final.

World number five Halep came into the match with a 7-3 head-to-head lead over Plíšková, who earned a straight-sets win in their previous meeting in March.

The duo had a nearly equal amount of unforced errors, but Plíšková blasted 28 winners to Halep's 15 as she powered through after one hour and 43 minutes of action.

The third set saw Halep's coach Darren Cahill walk onto the court after Plíšková won her third consecutive game for 3-2 and brand the Romanian’s attitude a "disgrace".

Halep won just one point in the next two games to fall 5-2 behind and, after fighting back to 5-4, was broken again as Plíšková wrapped up victory with a forehand.

Defending champion Elina Svitolina of Ukraine made it a perfect three wins out of three in the purple group by defeating the United States' Sofia Kenin.

Svitolina took her sixth match point to prevail 7-5, 7-6 after Kenin had an opportunity to serve out each set.

The 25-year-old was already guaranteed a place in the semi-finals and will go on to play seventh-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic tomorrow.

Kenin replaced injured Canadian Bianca Andreescu yesterday and was not able to progress to the semi-finals regardless of her result today. 

The final in Shenzhen is scheduled for Sunday (November 3).