According to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Afghanistan will host South Africa for a historic bilateral series of three One Day Internationals (ODIs) from September 18 to 22 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE. Prior to this, On September 9th -13th, Afghanistan is scheduled to play its first ever Test match against New Zealand in Greater Noida, India.
“During our last International Cricket Council meeting we had some very fruitful discussions,” said ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf according to Reports. “In addition to confirming the dates for New Zealand’s one-off Test match with us, we also agreed with CSA that they would come and play ODIs against us next month.”
This will be the first time Afghanistan and South Africa have met in a bilateral ODI series. In their past two meetings during World Cup tournaments held in 2019 and 2023, these two teams met each other as well. Furthermore, they have played thrice in T20 World Cup which include years such as 2010, 2016, and this year’s edition’s semi-finals where South Africa won all matches.
“They are a great team and we are really looking forward to hosting them and playing them more regularly in future,” added Ashraf.
Lawson Naidoo who is the head of Cricket South Africa is thrilled about it too.
“This is an historic ODI series which we are excited about going into together with Afghanistan that has become a highly competitive side lately,” Naidoo noted. “This marks a significant development in our cricketing relation ship as established by both sides.”
Both organizations are keen on deepening their cricket links through this tournament since Afghanistan has become increasingly stronger in international cricket.
