The Sydney Sixers reckon they're playing good enough cricket at the end of the regular season to take out the Big Bash League.
The only problem is they won't even be featuring in the finals.
The Sixers won their fourth straight game to end the season on Tuesday night, but a wretched start to the competition and the final-round draw means they can't end the week in the top four.
Instead, they will be left to rue three of their early matches being lost on the last ball and wishing they could have somehow landed internationals Joe Denly and Carlos Brathwaite earlier after the pair ended the regular season in stunning fashion.
"It feels like (we could've won it)," batsman Nic Maddinson said.
"One ball in a certain game here or there and it could have been a different outcome for us.
"I feel like if we had snuck into a finals spot we're playing well and have enough confidence and the momentum to push for a grand final spot."
Maddinson has also formed part of the change.
After scoring 151 runs across the first seven games, he has averaged 70 at a strike-rate of 215.38 in the last three games, including two half-centuries.
Tuesday's 61 against the Melbourne Stars was easily his most exciting of the season.
It came off just 26 balls, as six of his 12 boundaries came off one James Faulkner over in the Sixers' easy pursuit of 190 - the highest ever BBL chase at the SCG.
"I'm pretty good friends with Jimmy, I'll remind him of that later," Maddinson said.
"My whole plan in every powerplay I play in is to hit a boundary every ball. That's the approach and it came off.
"I've just tried to play without any fear of getting out (in the last games of the season) ... just look to take the game on rather than conserve."
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