The right-arm somethingness of Shafali Verma

On the last ball of the 11th over, Meg Lanning went for a full-blooded sweep against Sneh Rana. It caught the top edge, went over the wicketkeeper's head before rolling towards the boundary.

Just as scratchily, Lanning picked three more boundaries against Nandni Sharma in the next over to bring up her half-century, helping UP Warriorz accelerate to 112 for 2 in 12 overs. After collapses in their first two games, this was the first time this season Warriorz had set themselves up in a position where they were not catching up.

With the scoring rate rising and momentum slipping away from Delhi Capitals, Jemimah Rodrigues threw the ball to Shafali Verma, the astute operator of right-arm somethingness.

Among the collective craft of players from DC and UPW—Marizanne Kapp's swing, Sophie Ecclestone's spin, Laura Wolvaardt's cover drive—Shafali Verma's bowling isn't one typically highlighted. Yet, she entered the attack at a crucial phase.

By then, Lanning had picked up her pace and notched a fifty, but it wasn't an innings of typical domination. She wasn't finding gaps with her usual frequency or timing.

Against Shafali, Lanning first charged but was surprised by a seam-up delivery. Then, going late on a drive, she mistimed to cover. Another intentional drive found the extra cover fielder.

A single over from Shafali could be shrugged off, but that's where UPW's slide began. While Harleen Deol continued to dominate Shree Charani, the scoring was kept in check by Shafali in her second over, where she mixed her pace cleverly to deliver four dots.

With runs drying up from one end, Lanning was forced to go big against Nandni. A heave to a cross-seamer ended in the hands of deep square leg. The pressure from Shafali's part-time spin had started to show.

She returned for a third over, firing some deliveries and looping others, catching batters off-balance. She conceded only three runs.

Shafali can bowl both off-break and leg-break. Despite a lazy run-up, there's unpredictability in her release. Her variations are yet to be fully defined, but she operated smartly with her lines, taking advantage of late release. She was specific with field placements, cramping batters for room with a stump-to-stump line, alert to any early trigger movements. With frequent changes in pace, angles, and trajectory, she found batters mistiming their slog sweeps. She didn't rely much on turn, even on a surface assisting it.

By then, she had done enough to suck the momentum from UPW's innings, prompting head coach Abhishek Nayar to retire out Harleen Deol, who had scored 47 off 36 balls. The move backfired when Chloe Tryon was dismissed off the third ball, holing out to deep mid-wicket.

Shafali's spell almost overshadowed how well Marizanne Kapp bowled that evening. Kapp delivered a fourth over—the final of the innings—ending with figures of 2 for 16, including 14 dots.

While Shafali's spell was a surprise and proved game-changing in a contest that went to the last ball, DC skipper Jemimah Rodrigues said she wasn't fully taken aback.

"I don't think she was my last option because of the way she bowled in the last game," Rodrigues said. "I've also seen her; she's very confident with her bowling. Anytime you wake her up from sleep, she'll say, 'I'll go and bowl for you.' To have that much confidence gives the captain a lot more trust. She was phenomenal."

Shafali also spoke of her self-confidence. "I have a lot of confidence in my bowling," she said. "Even from my domestic days, I was confident. When you take important wickets in a World Cup final, everyone has confidence in you. I was trying to make them play dots and just give singles. I was trying to bowl stump-to-stump and cut out the boundaries. I'm a hard-hitter so I know where to bowl. If you bowl too full, you will get smashed. When I bowl, I envision that I'm batting and the plan is not to get hit for six."

It was a rare day when Shafali the batter couldn't club big shots despite staying at the crease for over 11 overs. The pitch was holding up and turning. Multiple attempts to hit big resulted in singles and dots. Meg Lanning even kept the field open on the leg side, baiting Shafali to hit against the turn of S Asha. She controlled that temptation, ending with no sixes in her 32-ball stay. But in a bid to innovate, she was dismissed unconventionally playing a reverse sweep.

Unlike her spell, the value of her innings—while significant—would be hard to comprehend in the context of the match.

It was a rare occurrence for Shafali to make an impact with the ball. But it was even rarer for Shafali to take the headlines without her bat doing the big talking. Wednesday was a reminder that it's not always the polished skill that shines. Sometimes, it's the magic of somethingness.