It was a historic moment for Brazil’s fast bowler Laura Cardoso, who became the first player to take nine wickets in a T20 International (T20I) match.
The milestone was reached by the 21-year-old right-arm medium pacer during a women’s T20I match between the Brazil women’s national cricket team and Lesotho women’s national cricket team at Gaborone Oval 2 on April 9, 2026. Cardoso bowled a formidable 3-over, 4 runs, and 9 wickets spell that led to bowling out Lesotho for just 13 runs after Brazil scored 202/8.
The right-arm speedster’s debut came in October 2021 during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier and notched up figures of 2-0-6-1 against the United States. Days after her debut, Cardoso delivered an even better performance as Canada was on the brink of victory, as they required only three runs off the final over to win. Cardoso picked up a hat-trick to fashion a dramatic victory for Brazil. The youngster also deservedly earned the Player of the Match award.
Record Previously held
The record for the best bowling figures in T20Is (men and women combined) before this was Sonam Yeshey’s 8 wickets for 7 runs against Myanmar in December 2025.
Best Bowling Figures in Women’s T20Is
The top bowling performances before Cardoso’s achievement were as follows:
Rohmalia Rohmalia 7/0 vs Mongolia (2024) Frederique Overdijk 7/3 vs France (2021) Alison Stocks 7/3 vs Peru (2022) Samanthi Dunukedeniya 7/15 vs Czech Republic (2025)
Records Among Full-Member Nations
The best bowling figures in women’s matches between full-member (Test-playing) nations are held by Amy Satterthwaite with 6/17 vs England (2007). Deepak Chahar is the men’s record holder with 6/7.
Best bowling figures in T20Is (Men’s and women’s combined)
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Cardoso | Brazil | 3 | 4 | 9 | Lesotho | Gaborone (Oval 2) | April 9, 2026 |
| Sonam Yeshey | Bhutan | 4 | 7 | 8 | Myanmar | Gelephu | December 26, 2025 |
| Rohmalia Rohmalia | Indonesia | 3.2 | 0 | 7 | Mongolia | Bali | April 24, 2024 |
| Frederique Overdijk | Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 7 | France | Cartagena | August 26, 2021 |
| Alison Stocks | Argentina | 3.4 | 3 | 7 | Peru | Seropedica | October 14, 2022 |
| Syazrul Idrus | Malaysia | 4 | 8 | 7 | China | Kuala Lumpur | July 26, 2023 |
| Samanthi Dunukedeniya | Cyprus | 3.5 | 15 | 7 | Czech Republic | Vinor | May 2, 2025 |
| Ali Dawood | Bahrain | 4 | 19 | 7 | Bhutan | Gelephu | December 11, 2025 |
| Anjali Chand | Nepal | 2.1 | 0 | 6 | Maldives | Pokhra | December 2, 2019 |
| Goabilwe Matome | Botswana | 3 | 1 | 6 | Lesotho | Gaborone (Oval 2) | September 3, 2023 |
| Mas Elysa | Malaysia | 4 | 3 | 6 | China | Bangkok | January 16, 2019 |
| Harsha Bharadwaj | Singapore | 4 | 3 | 6 | Mongolia | Bangi | September 5, 2024 |
The best bowling figures in a Men’s T20I?
Bhutan’s Sonam Yeshey holds the record of best haul in a Men’s T20I when he took figures of 4-1-7-8 against Myanmar in 2025 to bowl them out for 45 while defending 128.
