laura cardoso delivered a record-breaking spell in Botswana on April 9, 2026 ET, becoming the first player ever to take nine wickets in a T20 international. The Brazil seamer ripped through Lesotho for figures of 9-4 at the Kalahari Women’s T20 tournament in Gaborone, where Brazil remained unbeaten. The result left Lesotho all out for 13 in 6. 2 overs while chasing 203.
Laura Cardoso strikes from the second over
The 21-year-old set the tone with five straight wickets across the end of her second over and the start of her fourth, leaving Lesotho under severe pressure at 8-5. She then added two more wickets later in the fourth over, took another pair in the fifth, and finished with three wickets for four runs in three overs. The spell gave Brazil a crushing 189-run victory, their third-biggest margin in T20Is.
Cardoso also moved past the previous best T20I figures in the format. Before this match, the record belonged to Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey, who took eight wickets for seven runs against Myanmar in a men’s T20 international in 2025. In women’s cricket, the earlier benchmark had been Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia, who took 7-0 against Mongolia in 2024.
Laura Cardoso and Brazil’s growing rise
Cricket Brasil president Roberta Moretti Avery, who watched the dismissal sequence from first slip, praised the bowler’s ceiling and temperament. “I don’t think this is the end. She’s still only 21 and I believe Laura is someone who can one day play at the elite level in England and Australia, ” she said. Avery added that Cardoso came through grassroots pathways and described her as one of the greatest cricketers Brazil has produced.
Cardoso’s run of wickets began after Brazil had posted 202 for 8, a total that gave Lesotho little margin for error. Lesotho never recovered, and only three of their batters reached one run as the innings collapsed in 6. 2 overs.
What the result means now
Brazil are now unbeaten in five matches at the six-team Kalahari Women’s T20 tournament in Gaborone and sit on top of the points table as the only team yet to lose. Cardoso was denied a 10-wicket haul when Marianne Artur completed the final dismissal, but the record already belonged to laura cardoso by then, and the performance had already rewritten the record books. The next stage of the tournament will show whether Brazil can carry this momentum deeper into the competition.
