Brazil bowler Laura Cardoso achieved a historic milestone, becoming the first cricketer in men’s or women’s T20Is to claim nine wickets in a single innings.
She accomplished the feat against Lesotho during the Kalahari Women’s T20I Tournament in Botswana, producing extraordinary bowling figures that surpassed all previous records in the format’s history.
Cardoso’s figures of 3-2-4-9 broke the men’s record held by Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey and the women’s record previously set by Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia.
Her performance ensured Brazil’s dominant victory, as Lesotho were dismissed for just 13 runs, marking the seventh-lowest total recorded in women’s T20I cricket.
Brazil had earlier posted 202 for 8, with Cardoso dismissed cheaply, but her bowling display transformed the match and secured a 189-run winning margin.
She claimed a hat-trick in the second over, followed by four wickets in the fourth, and completed her nine-wicket haul in the sixth.
Cardoso narrowly missed becoming the first player to take all ten wickets in a T20I innings, as teammate Marianne Artur claimed the final dismissal.
Brazil remain unbeaten in the tournament, winning all five group stage matches, and currently lead the points table as the only undefeated team.
