Laura Cardoso takes world record nine wickets in T20 international

Brazil’s Laura Cardoso has become the first player ever to take nine wickets in a T20 international, recording figures of 9-4 against Lesotho.

The seamer achieved the feat in three overs as Lesotho were bowled out for 13 in 6.2 overs, chasing 203.

The 21-year-old now has the best figures in the format, besting the previous record held by 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, Cardoso surpassed Indonesia’s Rohmalia Rohmalia’s figures of 7-0 against Mongolia in 2024.

Cardoso started her remarkable run of dismissals by taking wickets with five consecutive deliveries, spanning the last three balls of the second over and first two of the fourth to leave Lesotho sprawling on 8-5.

She took two further wickets in the remainder of the over, recording a second maiden, then removed another pair of batters in the fifth over.

However she was denied a 10-wicket haul when Marianne Artur had Lindiwe Polaki, one of only three Lesotho batters to score a run, stumped to conclude the match.

Brazil are unbeaten in five matches at the six-team Kalahari Women’s T20 tournament, which is being staged entirely in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.