Afghanistan will host South Africa in a three-match ODI series in September as both cricket boards confirmed in a joint media release on July 31.
The three games are set to be played in Sharjah from September 18, which will be the first bilateral assignment between the two countries and serve as a tune-up to next year’s Champions Trophy.
South Africa has played Afghanistan only twice in ODIs in the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. The two teams recently clashed in the semifinals of the recent T20 World Cup 2024 in Trinidad where South Africa restricted Afghanistan for 56 runs and secured victory to reach finals for the first time.
“These fixtures were not initially part of our FTP. Still, based on our productive negotiations with our counterparts at Cricket South Africa, we concluded that we will host the Proteas for an ODI series in September. They are an excellent team, and we are eagerly looking forward to hosting them and playing them regularly in the future,” said ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf.
On the other hand, CSA counterpart Lawson Naidoo said, “We are excited to embark on this historic ODI series with Afghanistan, who have become a very competitive all-round team as evidenced by their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and most recently at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. This is a significant milestone in our cricketing relations, and we look forward to a competitive and entertaining series.”
Afghanistan recently grabbed the spotlight after they made it to their semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Afghanistan-South Africa Series Schedule:
- September 18: 1st ODI, Sharjah
- September 20: 2nd ODI, Sharjah
- September 22: 3rd ODI, Sharjah
