Afghanistan, South Africa to play ODI series in Sept

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan and South Africa will play a three match One-Day International (ODI) series in September, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced on Wednesday.

It would be the first-ever bilateral cricket series between the two countries, hosted by Afghanistan, ACB said in a statement.

It added the first ODI would be played on September 18, with the second and third scheduled for September 20 and 22 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The South African team is due to arrive in the UAE on September 14. Meanwhile, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led squad will depart from Delhi for the UAE the same day, following their one-off Test against New Zealand which is scheduled for September 9-13 in Greater Noida.

The statement quoted ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf as saying: “The recent ICC annual meeting was quite productive for us. Apart from confirming dates for the one-off Test match against New Zealand, we reached an agreement with Cricket South Africa for a three-match  ODI series September.”

He said the 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.”

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

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.

kk/mud