Mayer and Del Potro were unable to put their country in the final when they lost to Wimbledon and Olympic champion Murray and his brother Jamie Murray in the doubles on Saturday, but the 29-year-old came from a set down to see off Evans 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 and settle the tie.
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Evans would have expected to face Juan Martin del Potro, conqueror of Murray in five hours on Friday, but the former US Open champion hinted on Saturday he was not prepared to risk his fragile body.
Andy Murray, whose defeat by Del Potro in a five-hour thriller in the opening singles on Friday left Britain facing an uphill task, had pulled the hosts level at 2-2 by beating Guido Pella 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the first of the reverse singles.
Marin Cilic sent Croatia into the cup showdown with a 6-3 6-2 7-5 victory against Richard Gasquet that gave the hosts a 3-2 win over France.
It faces Croatia in the final.
“He continued: “[I’ll] take a few days to sort of think what happened through. Might not be able to go on another run like that over the last couple of years but you know next year is another opportunity to try and keep building the team. ‘He’s a great Davis Cup player and absolutely loves it but he has to be smart with his schedule next year’.
The killer instinct had temporarily deserted the Scot but it was swiftly rediscovered and Murray bagged his second break to cruise to a two set lead.
Mayer, world-ranked number 128, spent the first set struggling to find his form, going down 6-4.
It all came down to a fifth and deciding rubber, and in the end another of Davis Cup’s litany of unlikely heroes rose to the challenge.
“It’s one of those things”, he lamented, after failing to earn a break point off of Mayer’s serve in the final three sets.
“I’ve never really had any muscle injuries before”, said Murray.
This is Great Britain’s first defeat since the 2014 quarterfinals against Italy in April 2014.
That feeling only grew among the 8,000 home fans as Evans won the first set impressively, but Mayer then simply took over with some magnificent serving.
Party time: Leonardo Mayer is mobbed by his Argentina teammates as they secured a spot in the Davis Cup final.
Throughout a year ago and into this, Murray’s continuous success in both singles matches and in the doubles with his brother Jamie had given Great Britain the points they needed to win matches.
Murray, the world number two, will remain the lynchpin for any immediate hopes of another Davis Cup success, but more immediately he requires a break.
Orsanic had been criticised for playing Del Potro in doubles, but he explained: ” Juan Martin gave more than he had (against Murray) and that had a very high cost for us.
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Murray, appearing for the third successive day, got off to a ideal start as he broke the Pella serve in the fourth game and never looked back as cantered to a 6-3 win in the first set.
