The Proteas will engage in a historic three-match one-day international (ODI) series against Afghanistan from September 18-22 in the United Arab Emirates, as announced by both cricket boards on Thursday.
This ODI series marks the first bilateral series between the two teams, with all matches hosted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
South Africa has previously played Afghanistan twice in 50-over cricket, during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2019 and 2023.
This series will also be their first meeting since South Africa's victory over Afghanistan in the semifinal of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Trinidad and Tobago last month.
CSA Chairman Lawson Naidoo expressed excitement about the upcoming series, noting Afghanistan's rise as a competitive team, as shown in their recent ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024 performances. He highlighted the significance of this series in strengthening cricketing ties and anticipated a competitive and entertaining encounter.
ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf mentioned that these fixtures were not initially planned in their Future Tours Programme (FTP). However, successful negotiations with Cricket South Africa led to the agreement to host the Proteas for an ODI series in September. He praised South Africa as an excellent team and expressed eagerness to host them and establish regular matches in the future.
Fixtures:
- Wednesday, 18 September: Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE
- Friday, 20 September: Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE
- Sunday, 22 September: Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE