Strong individual performances from several players, including Peter Siddle, Nic Maddinson, the now injured Seb Gotch – with twin centuries – and emerging star Will Sutherland, along with Handscomb's attacking captaincy and declarations, have given the Vics a legitimate shot at a fifth title in six seasons. That they had been at the foot of the ladder inadvertently gave Handscomb and his team more room to play in a carefree manner. "There is no second guessing. Every decision was a positive option to try and keep the game moving forward and to try and get a win in any situation," Handscomb said on Tuesday. "We just had to give ourselves the best chance of winning games." If the Vics falter next week, the Bulls and Tigers can still pounce, while Western Australia have a slim mathematical hope of making the final.

That the Bulls and Warriors have their final-round matches starting two days earlier than Victoria means the Vics will know what they have to do, results-wise. The three victories have reinforced the depth of the squad, for James Pattinson (back soreness), Will Pucovski (concussion) and Glenn Maxwell (elbow) have been missing, Gotch fractured the middle finger on his right hand and was replaced last week by Sam Harper, while Aaron Finch has been on international duty. "To be fair, we have played good cricket year-round but there have been crunch moments when we haven't taken the opportunity to win the games before Christmas," Handscomb said. "We had an opportunity to win games there and put ourselves in a really good position for the Shield final but just missed out. There was the game against Queensland when we were chasing 180 on the last day at the MCG ... we win that, it's a bit of a different story.

"Now a couple of things are going our way, we get a bit of luck, boys get on a roll. The batting group is doing an amazing job and the bowlers are backing it up unbelievably. They are coming in on some flat wickets and bowling the house down." Maddinson, who struggled to score in the Big Bash League, is the leading run-scorer in the competition with 780 runs at 86.66 in seven matches. Siddle is fourth on the wicket-taking list with 32 at 19.87, while Sutherland has 18 wickets at 35.22, with two five-wicket hauls. This included a career-best 6-67 against the Redbacks on Monday, which confirmed a 182-run win. "He took the new ball for the first time in his career and got a six-for. It's great to see the young players stepping up as well," Handscomb said. "I have seen him now for a little while. I have seen what he can do. I have faced him a few times in the nets and I know how good he can be."