Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series between the Proteas Men and Afghanistan, beginning from September 18, 2024 to September 22, 2024, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
Reportedly, the ODI series is the first ever bilateral series between the two sides or teams, will all three matches set to be hosted by ACB at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
South African Proteas has faced Afghanistan team earlier two times, in 50 over cricket during the last two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2019 and 2023. The series will mark their first encounter since South Africa defeated Afghanistan in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, held recently in Trinidad and Tobago, last month in July.
Considering this, Chairman of Cricket South Africa (CSA) – Lawson Naidoo commented, “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.’
The Chairman added that it is a significant milestone in the cricketing relations and they look forward to a competitive and entertaining series.
Chairman of Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) – Mirwais Ashraf said, “These fixtures were not initially a part of the FTP. Still, completely based on the productive negotiations with the 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 host them and play them regularly in the future,” mentioned ACB Chairman.
The Fixtures scheduled for the matches between Afghanistan vs South Africa will be observed in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in UAE, for the dates Wednesday, September 18, 2024; Friday, September 20, 2024 and Sunday, September 22, 2024.