For a loss, it was as good as it could have been.
That's the view of Sydney Sixers skipper Moises Henriques after his side fell to the Hobart Hurricanes by 12 runs in Tuesday night's Big Bash League qualifier.
The top-of-the-table Hurricanes progressed to the final for a shot at a maiden title, while the Sixers live to fight another day in Friday's challenger.
There they'll meet the winner of Wednesday's elimination final between the Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars for the other place in the decider.
The Sixers, who were without touring Australian Test players Steve Smith, Sean Abbott and Todd Murphy, fell to 3-5 chasing 7-173 but clawed their way back in to the contest.
They got the scenario to 55 from the final four overs but it proved a bridge too far.
"To take it as deep as we did ... there are good and bad ways to lose," Henriques said.
"You never want to lose but in terms of losing that's as well as we can lose."
Jordan Silk scored 57 from 44 balls after not spending much time in the middle recently, while rookie Lachlan Shaw was unbeaten on 33.
Kurtis Patterson hit 48 from 33 balls opening the batting in a re-shuffle after the departure of English signing James Vince.
"We've got some good balls into a lot of batters who probably haven't hit a lot," Henriques said.
"It happens every year to us. We've rarely ever have our overseas (players) for finals.
"When we've won (competitions), we've won without the overseas (players).
"We're used to this sort of transition. The guys that are coming in … they're very good cricketers.
"Kurtis proved that with a good knock that kept us in the game. Lachie (Shaw) showed promising signs in one of the toughest positions to bat in T20 cricket."
Henriques said the Sixers could take confidence from a better showing than their previous 50-run loss to the Hurricanes on New Year's Day.
"Our processes ... were 10 times better than the last time we came down here when we (took) the surge a bit earlier and panicked in the run chase," he said.
