When Sophie Devine was tossed the ball in Vadodara at the start of the final over against Delhi Capitals, eight runs to play with and Gujarat Giants' fate hanging by a thread, there was remarkably not much going through her head.

"Simplicity, really."

She walked to the top of her bowling mark knowing both results were possible - that she can be the hero, and she can be the reason the campaign slipped away.

It nearly did slip away. Earlier that night, in the 17th, she had been hit for 23 runs. The margin for error was gone. The over brought DC storming back into the contest. Yet, when the stakes were highest, the Giants went back to the same bowler and Devine didn't reach for anything new. She instead "stripped it back" to basics, and stayed on the stumps.

"It sounds very simple, maybe even cliched, but that's really it," Devine tells Cricbuzz.

"It comes with experience and the ability to ride the emotions and at some point as well take the emotions out of it and just to enjoy the challenge and to enjoy the competition because it's a game. At the end of the day, you strip it back. You're having fun out there. Whether there's a mountain of pressure on you or not, it's a game. And it's moments like those that you play for, is to try and help your team get across the line."

She has done it twice over, actually. Successfully defending six runs a fortnight ago, against the same opposition, in a different set of conditions, Devine let everyone else at the ground feel the nerves. Especially the team that wanted her the most all along.

The irony here is hard to miss. Devine was the second name out of the marquee bag in the mega-auction 2026. Alyssa Healy was first and, much to everyone's shock, had gone unsold. Delhi weren't merely driving up the New Zealander's price - they were genuinely invested in landing the deal. DC stayed in the bidding war until her value climbed to INR 2 crore - a 300% raise from her previous contract and, crucially, over 35 per cent of their small auction purse with a dozen more purchases to make after.

In T20 cricket, Devine's reputation precedes her bat. Power, intent and fearlessness - that's what teams usually line up for. And yet, in WPL 2026 Devine has underpinned Gujarat Giants' season with something far less glamorous in franchise cricket - composure. For a team that had spent much of its formative years in the league frustratingly finding ways to lose from winning positions, this has almost felt surreal.

At 36, in the twilight years of her career, Devine is arguably bowling at her finest in the shortest format over the last 15 months. She was Perth Scorchers' leading wicket-taker in WBBL 2025 in their runners-up finish, she captained New Zealand to their maiden T20 World Cup title, and has now emerged as WPL's most reliable death bowler. Ask Devine what's changed and she just shrugs at the suggestion. This version - the one closing out tense games and wearing the Purple Cap to her own surprise - hasn't been about new skills with the ball but instead about better decision-making under pressure.