In their inaugural bilateral series, South Africa and Afghanistan will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in Sharjah from September 18 to 22. Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed in a statement that the series will be hosted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).
The chairman of the CSA, Lawson Naidoo, noted that this series was a “significant milestone” in the collaboration between the two boards because it was not initially included in the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The series will conclude five days before to the start of South Africa’s planned November 27 T20I and 3 ODI matches against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.
“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,” Naidoo said. “This is a significant milestone in our cricketing relations, and we look forward to a competitive and entertaining series.
“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,” ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said. “They are an excellent team, and we are eagerly looking forward to hosting them and playing them regularly in the future.”
On August 7, South Africa will play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Test matches against the West Indies in the Caribbean before travelling to the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan’s matches in South Africa, which take place less than a week after their first Test match against New Zealand in Greater Noida, India, which is scheduled for September 9–13, will give them another opportunity to show off against a country that plays Test cricket.