Barkley and Maddock ran in four tries between them in a glorious display of attacking rugby
By James Standley
Joe Maddock scored a dazzling hat-trick as Bath moved into the fourth and final Premiership play-off place by defeating Wasps in front of 60,000 at Twickenham.
Danny Cipriani gave Wasps an early 6-0 lead but a rapid brace from Maddock and Olly Barkley's kicking made it 18-6.
Cipriani cut the gap to six with two penalties, either side of half-time.
But Maddock intercepted to complete his treble before Barkley finished off a fine move to put Bath three points ahead of Wasps with one game remaining.
Wasps scored a late try through Ben Jacobs but it was barely any consolation for the hosts, who started the day as favourites to claim the final play-off spot but now find themselves staring at a premature end to their season in a fortnight's time.
Bath's final game is at home to Leeds, who could secure their Premiership status against Worcester on Sunday, while Wasps visit Newcastle on the last day.
Wasps dominated the opening stages and were rewarded with two Cipriani penalties before Bath finally got on the board through a Barkley penalty.
Wasps were good value for their early lead but when Bath finally secured some possession their superb off-loading and incisive running brought about two fine tries for Maddock.
A Butch James break enabled Barkley and Nick Abendanon to send Maddock racing over in the corner for the first, before a Barkley break set up the second, Maddock this time racing over in the opposite corner.
Barkley, who did his England prospects the power of good with a fine all-round game, converted the first from wide out and soon added a penalty to make it 18-6.
Bath then suffered a blow as Abendanon was sin-binned for taking out Tom Varndell as he chased his own chip ahead and Cipriani hit the post when he attempted to cut the gap to a nine-point margin.
Both teams were playing with real ambition and when Cipriani landed a penalty either side of half-time to cut the gap to six points it looked as though a cliff-hanger was in the works.
Cipriani had been playing some superb rugby but as he tried to haul Wasps level his judgement deserted him.
First he cross-kicked a penalty unsuccessfully to Paul Sackey with three points on offer, before handing Bath the decisive try on a plate.
The Melbourne Rebels-bound fly-half had been firing some excellent wide passes but when he tried his luck once too often, Maddock picked it off and cantered under the posts.
With just over 20 minutes left it looked like being the crucial score and Barkley rubbed salt into the wound with a simple conversion.
He soon added a penalty and then slid home the stiletto with a try of his own, finishing off the latest in a series of a marvellous Bath attacks that saw backs and forwards interchanging at will.
The centre, who saw the first half of his season wiped out by a broken leg, added the conversion as Bath earned a four-try bonus point.
Wasps looked shell-shocked and things went from bad to worse when scrum-half Joe Simpson, who had a lively game, dropped a try-scoring pass from David Lemi five metres from the line.
The hosts did manage a late converted try from Jacobs but Bath were long since out of sight as they claimed their 10th win in 11 Premiership games.
Bath head coach Steve Meehan: "There's a lot of rugby yet; a lot of things can happen. There's the small matter of a match against Leeds who have been playing well, dogging it out.
"But we've always believed that we could win these last three games. The players have done very well to achieve that.
"For the first time this season we get the opportunity to play a game knowing that it's in our hands."
Wasps director of rugby Steve Hanks: "We weren't as accurate as we have been in recent weeks. We needed to respect the ball more.
"We gave a good Bath side far too much room and latitude. If you do that they are going to hurt you.
"But we didn't throw in the towel, the bench came on and worked hard for us."
Replacements: Jacobs for Kefu (64), Lemi for Varndell (66), Walder for Cipriani (64), Taulafo for Payne (64), Vickery for Broster (43), Hart for Worsley (71), Betsen for Rees (73).
Replacements: Cuthbert for Maddock (79), Hape for Carraro (68), Bemand for Claassens (68), Catt for Barnes (41), Dixon for Mears (64), Wilson for Bell (41), Skirving for Grewcock (79).
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