Taking the field at Pocos de Caldas in the 3rd Match of the South American Women’s Championships 2026, Brazil A Women and Costa Rica Women squared off in a highly anticipated encounter.
Opting to bat first, Brazil A Women aimed to set a strong platform through their opening pair, captain Beatriz Pereira and Hilary Iaccino. The top-order combination kicked off proceedings with a quick-fire 21-run opening partnership off 15 deliveries. However, the breakthrough came in the 3rd over when Beatriz Pereira was run out by Fernanda Arauz after scoring 6 off 9 balls.
Just three balls later at 21/2, Yerin Molina struck her first blow for Costa Rica Women by dismantling the stumps of Hilary Iaccino, who departed for 12 off 9 balls featuring a boundary and a maximum. With both openers back in the pavilion, Gabrieli Da Silva joined hands with Eloise Thomaz to rebuild the innings. The duo stitched together a solid 37-run stand for the third wicket, taking the team total to 58 before Fernanda Arauz trapped Thomaz, cleaning her up for 9 off 20 deliveries in the 10th over.
Lavinia Silva then walked in at number five to support Da Silva, forming a 15-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The partnership was broken at 73/4 in the 13th over when Lavinia Silva was trapped lbw by Katheryn Calderon, with Calderon keeping tight lines for 5 off 14 balls. Geovana De Lima was the next batter in, but her stay was short-lived as she added 1 run off 9 balls in a 10-run stand before Yerin Molina claimed her second wicket, bowling De Lima to reduce Brazil A Women to 83/5 in 15.1 overs. Joining the resilient Gabrieli Da Silva, Gabriela Bernardes injected immediate momentum into the tail end of the innings.
Bernardes played an explosive cameo of 12 off just 6 balls, striking a four and a six at a strike rate of 200.00, and built a crucial 21-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Her brief blitz ended when Jazmin Molina trapped her lbw in the 18th over, leaving the score at 104/6. Anna De Oliveira came in as the final batter to partner Da Silva, adding an unbeaten 2 off 6 balls in a 16-run unbroken seventh-wicket stand. Throughout the innings, Gabrieli Da Silva remained the anchor, remaining undefeated on 37 off 61 balls with four boundaries. A massive total of 36 extras (including 14 no-balls and 22 wides) pushed Brazil A Women’s total to 120/6 in their allotted 20 overs.
Among the Costa Rica Women’s bowling attack, Yerin Molina was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/17 in 4 overs (including a maiden). Fernanda Arauz delivered an economical spell of 1/15 in 4 overs, while Jazmin Molina took 1/38 in 4 overs and Wendy Morales registered 1/24 in 3 overs. Katheryn Calderon went wicketless but bowled tightly for 0/20 in 4 overs, while Saray Lara bowled a single over for 6 runs.
Chasing a target of 121 runs, Costa Rica Women endured a catastrophic top-order collapse right from the start. Opening batters Maria Miranda and Dunia Perez could only put together 3 runs for the first wicket before Miranda was caught by Bernardes off Geovana De Lima for a 10-ball duck in the 2nd over. Shortly after at 3/1, Lavinia Silva struck on her very first over, bowling Dunia Perez for 1 off 3 balls in the 3rd over.
The slide continued seamlessly as Wendy Morales was caught behind by keeper De Oliveira off Lavinia Silva for a 5-ball duck at 3/3, and Katheryn Calderon was run out without facing a ball due to sharp fielding by Ramos and De Oliveira to leave Costa Rica reeling at 3/4. Maria Cano managed 1 off 5 balls in a brief 2-run partnership before Eloise Thomaz trapped her lbw in the 5th over, sending the side to 5/5.
Fernanda Arauz tried to hold one end, scoring 1 run off 18 balls while adding 8 runs for the sixth wicket with Yerin Molina. However, Eloise Thomaz breached Arauz’s defense in the 8th over to make it 13/6. Yerin Molina (1 off 12 balls) fell next at 15/7 after being bowled by Gabriela Bernardes in the 9th over. Saray Lara provided the only boundary of the innings, scoring 4 off 5 balls in an 8-run stand with Yoshanil Lewis before being trapped lbw by Geovana De Lima at 23/8.
Isabella Ramos then entered the bowling attack and promptly bowled Yoshanil Lewis (2 off 5) at 23/9 in the 11th over. Jazmin Molina remained not out on 1 off 2 balls alongside last batter Kaisha Moya (0 off 8 balls). The final wicket fell when Lavinia Silva returned to have Moya caught behind by De Oliveira for a duck at 25/10 in 11.4 overs. Supported by 14 extras, Costa Rica Women were bundled out for just 25 runs, giving Brazil A Women a dominant 95-run victory.
Brazil A Women’s bowling performance was led by Lavinia Silva, who finished with remarkable figures of 3/3 in 2.4 overs. Geovana De Lima provided excellent support with 2/9 in 3 overs, while Eloise Thomaz was equally lethal, taking 2/3 in 2 overs. Isabella Ramos picked up 1/2 in 2 overs, and Gabriela Bernardes chipped in with 1/5 in 2 overs, completing a clinical team performance on the field.
Loves all things female cricket