In a city nestled high in the mountains in football-mad Brazil, children are running excitedly around a sports field under a bright morning sun, indifferent to the goalposts behind them: they are swinging cricket bats instead. Defying stereotypes, Brazil is emerging as a force to be reckoned with in cricket, especially the women's national team, who were given professional contracts in 2020 -- making the country the first in the world to take its women's team pro before the men's. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES