The fourth seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair knocked out the second seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei and China's Peng Shuai in a contest that lasted an hour and 50 minutes.
Having saved a set point in the opening set, Sania and Cara prevailed over their higher ranked opponents in a tie-break.
However, Hsieh and Peng fought their way back in the second set and comfortably wrapped it up 6-3, taking it to the deciding set.
With this victory, Sania and Cara ended a three-match losing streak in their head-to-head with Hsieh and Peng.