Maddinson hammered 85 runs from 48 deliveries against the Adelaide Strikers' highly-regarded attack. In a powerhouse performance which thrilled the 52,633-strong Adelaide Oval crowd, 48 of his runs were scored off his last 15 deliveries. His effort provided the foundation for the Sixers' to post an unassailable 181. It also reinforced to Maddinson the sensibility of his pre-match decision to not try to hit every ball over the fence – although, his innings contained five sixes and seven fours.

After opening his T20 season with an unbeaten 84 against the Melbourne Renegades, his highest score before Saturday's semi-final fireworks was 29. However, he dismissed the pressure to be a crowd-pleaser as an excuse for his string of low scores.  "It was simply a case of me wanting to take an aggressive role," he said. "And at times it probably wasn't warranted.

"I think [the cheap dismissals] was me being a little bit immature and thinking I could do a lot more than I could in the first 10 deliveries. I didn't give myself a chance, and that's the end of the story.

"I wanted to go hard in the first 10 balls and attack guys in their first over rather than waiting for them to get towards the end of their spell."

Maddinson attributed his dominance at Adelaide Oval to staying in control of his emotions.  "I planned to do 'it' in the 15th over," he said. "I wanted to face 20 balls ... even if I didn't score a run, my plan was to get through 20 deliveries and go from there."

The scene is set for Maddinson to take centre stage in Wednesday's decider at Canberra. Coach Trevor Bayliss welcomed the left-hander's coming of age.

"We know Nic has a lot of shots. He can hit a lot of balls over the fence and to the fence," he said. "But Nic would be the first to admit there's been times when he's tried to hit too many balls for four and six. He showed, not just in that first BBL match [against the Renegades] but in the Sheffield Shield match [against Queensland] when he scored a century, that he's starting to turn the corner and working out the right approach."

Adelaide Strikers' seamer Kane Richardson, who bowled Maddinson out when he seemed poised to reach a T20 century, said the batsman's inconsistency had been noted, but in the same breath he described Maddinson as an international-class player.

"He definitely has ability but I think consistency has been an issue," he said. "He's dangerous, we saw that a few weeks ago [in Sydney] when he threatened to go nuts against us. Nic is a good talent and he should be playing a lot of cricket for Australia. He's [more] than a state cricketer."