Brazil’s Laura Cardoso won 189 against Lesotho and took a record nine wickets, securing the best bowling performance in T20Is.
Published April 9, 2026
Brazil secured a 189-run victory over Lesotho in the Women’s T20 International in Botswana, with one of their bowlers taking nine wickets, including five in a row, making them unlikely candidates to achieve two records in cricket.
Brazil won the toss in the BCA Kalahari Women’s T20 International Tournament on Thursday and posted an impressive 202-8 with wicketkeeper Monique Machado hitting 69 off 41 deliveries.
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But the fun was just beginning for the Brazilian. Laura Cardoso completed the hat-trick with the last three deliveries of the first over, the second of Lesotho’s innings, ultimately sparking an incredible feat to bowl out the Africans for 13.
The 21-year-old then continued her wicket-taking feat with strikes on the first two balls of her second over, the first of five consecutive dismissals in Women’s T20 Internationals. This was all due in part to Lesotho’s first nine wickets falling, but after changing their bowling after three overs they were denied the chance to take all 10. Her final wicket was Recepile Limema, which fell on the fifth ball of the fifth over, at the end of which Cardoso took over for the next over. Nevertheless, her nine wickets are the highest return in a men’s or women’s T20 international tournament.
Indeed, the right-arm seamer took wickets in the last two balls of the second over, making a total of four casualties and coming close to scoring a hat-trick yet again.
Cardoso replaced Indonesia’s Romalia at the top of the women’s T20 best bowling rankings with a record of 3-2-4-9.
Romaria had picked up seven wickets in a match against Mongolia in Bali in 2024. Only three other women have finished seventh in T20 internationals.
The previous record for most wickets in consecutive deliveries was four, with the most notable record held at the same time as Shekhela Selman’s feat in 2018 against West Indies and Pakistan.
Despite the large margin of victory, Brazil’s overall victory does not compare to Argentina’s record of defeating Chile by 364 points in 2023. Argentina set up a 427-1 victory.
Lesotho’s share in this record is only that of Cardoso, with Mali having the lowest total ever, losing in 6 to Rwanda in 2019.
Brazil, who lead the six-team tournament with five straight wins, will face Mozambique on Friday.
