Revelling in his role as the late innings lynchpin for the Sydney Sixers, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin believes his surging BBL team are peaking at the right time.
The Sixers have won back-to-back games for the first time this season and 39-year-old Haddin played a big part in two successful run chases.
He bashed 32 off 13 balls against the Heat in Brisbane and secured a home win against Melbourne Renegades on Monday, with a unbeaten knock of.31 off 23 deliveries.
Asked about the challenge of trying to finish off a run chase, Haddin chuckled and said "I hate it.
"It's a bit of a different role for me and it's good."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
We've got a lot of power up the top order. Daniel Hughes is playing well, we've got Lumby (Michael Lumb ) back and we've got our two senior blokes in Maddo (Nic Maddinson) and (captain) Moises (Henriques) in the middle to control it.
"It's my job there at the end to fix what we need to fix .It's different but it's enjoyable."
Sydney have a 4-2 record and a win in one of their two remaining games should guarantee a semi-final spot.
"Tournament play is about getting better and peaking at the right time and we think we're doing that at the moment,," Haddin said.
The Sixers have regained Test bowlers Jackson Bird and Nathan Lyon.
"We needed someone to bowl well with that new ball," Haddion said.
"We hadn't started well, we've relied a lot on our spinners at the start to pull the game back after they' (the opposition) have taken to us.
"It's good to have Birdy as a new ball bowler and use our spinners in the middle."
Haddin was philosophical about Sixers spinner Steve O'Keefe being withdrawn from the rest of the tournament to play lower tier longer form cricket to prepare for the imminent Test series in india.
"He's an important part of our team, but you've got to be realistic as well,' he said.
'He's getting ready for an Indian tour and the number one prioity is to be ready to go to India.
"We support him with that. He deserves his crack over there, those conditions will suit (him)."
Haddin was delighted to see Renegades' injury-prone paceman James Pattinson, who he described as a superstar, playing again.
He felt there should be no hurry to rush Pattinson back into the international arena.
"I don't think we need to put any pressure on him, he , he needs to get some overs under the belt,": Haddin said.
