Afghanistan To Host South Africa for Three-Match historic ODI Series in UAE

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirms that it will host South Africa for a series of three One Day International (ODI) matches from September 18 – 22 in the United Arab Emirates. This three-match ODI series will be the first-ever bilateral cricket series between the two countries hosted by Afghanistan.

The first ODI will be played on September 18, with the second and third ODIs scheduled for September 20 and 22 respectively at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

South Africa has faced Afghanistan on two occasions in 50-over cricket during the last two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2019 and 2023.

This series will mark their first encounter since South Africa defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Trinidad and Tobago last month.

CSA Chairman Lawson Naidoo commented: “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”

Both teams have only met twice in ODIs, with both games coming in during the ICC Cricket World Cup events in 2019 and 2023.

ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf added: “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.”

Afghanistan has never played Cricket South Africa in bilateral cricket before, and this event will be a significant milestone for Afghanistan Cricket. The ACB is also currently in talks with the Bangladesh Cricket Board to reschedule its all-format home series, with dates to be shared upon reaching an agreement.