Brazil’s Laura Cardoso becomes first-ever cricketer to take 9 wickets in a T20I

Make way for Laura Cardoso, who, on Thursday (Apr 9), became the first-ever cricketer, male or female, to pick a nine-wicket haul in a T20I game. The Brazilian all-rounder registered astonishing figures of nine wickets for just four runs in three overs, which included two maidens, against Lesotho during the Kalahari Women’s T20I Tournament in Botswana.

The right-arm medium pacer broke the record for the best T20I figures, previously held by Bhutan’s male left-arm spinner, Sonam Yeshey, who picked up 8 for 7 against Myanmar last year. Amongst the women’s division, the record for the best individual T20I tally belonged to Indonesian off-spinner Rohmalia Rohmalia, who returned with seven wickets without conceding a single run against Mongolia in April 2024.

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Cardoso’s record-shattering figures also saw Brazil register their third biggest win in the T20Is. Defending 203, Brazil dismissed Lesotho on just 13, winning by a massive 189-run margin.

Cardoso, who walked in at number four, scored just four runs off two balls before unleashing her bowling prowess in the second half. The rookie seamer bowled the second over and collected her first T20I hat-trick on the last three balls. In her second over, she went a step ahead and picked up four wickets in the space of five balls to completely drown Lesotho. She then ended her spell in her third straight over, picking up two more wickets to register a first-ever nine-wicket haul by any cricketer in this format.

Although she was in touching distance of becoming the first-ever cricketer to pick all 10 wickets in a T20I innings, as destiny had it, her teammate, Marianne Artur, bowling the seventh over, her first in the game, picked the pending 10th wicket to wrap up Lesotho on just 13; more importantly, denying Cardoso a history-making feat.

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Meanwhile, Lesotho’s 13 is the seventh-lowest team total in women’s T20Is.

Gautam Sodhi

Meet Gautam, a seasoned journalist with over eight years of experience in covering the world of sports. I am a self-proclaimed cricket fanatic, having a deep passion for the game a...Read More

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