South Africa and Afghanistan set to clash in historic first-ever bilateral ODI series in September in Sharjah

Afghanistan will host South Africa for the first time in a bilateral ODI series in September.

In a huge development for the Afghanistan cricket team, they will host South Africa in a bilateral series for the first time in any format when the two teams clash in a three-match ODI series in Sharjah in September this year.

The three ODIs will be played between September 18 and 22. The Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed this in their statement.

This three-ODI rubber will help both teams prepare for the Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played in February-March.

South Africa will take on Afghanistan and Ireland in the UAE in white-ball matches in September

After the completion of this series, South Africa will remain in the UAE as they will then take on Ireland in two T20Is and three ODIs in Abu Dhabi from September 27. The SA vs AFG ODI series was not in the original Future Tours Programme (FTP).

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) Chairman Mirwais Ashraf said, “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.”

CSA Chairman 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.”

Before meeting the Proteas in the ODI series, Afghanistan will contest a first-ever test match against New Zealand. It will be played from September 9 in Greater Noida, India.

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