Afghanistan and South Africa to tussle in the Odi series in Sharjah

Afghanistan will play against South Africa in a series of three one-day cricket matches in Sharjah this September. This will be the first time the two teams compete against each other in a series just between them. Cricket South Africa (CSA) shared this news in a public announcement. The matches will happen from September 18 to 22 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Lawson Naidoo, the head of CSA, mentioned that this series, which was not originally planned in the Future Tours Programme (FTP), is a significant achievement.

“We are thrilled to start this historic one-day series with Afghanistan, who have shown they are a strong team in all aspects of the game, as seen in their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” Naidoo stated.

“These matches were not originally in our schedule. However, after successful talks with Cricket South Africa, we agreed to have the South African team, known as the Proteas, play an ODI series here in September,” said Mirwais Ashraf, Chairman of the ACB.

Following their matches with Afghanistan, the Proteas will compete against Ireland in two T20Is and three ODIs in Abu Dhabi, beginning on September 27. Before playing against Afghanistan and Ireland, South Africa will take on West Indies in two Test matches and three T20Is in the Caribbean.

South Africa and Afghanistan have played against each other just twice in One Day Internationals (ODIs) during the 2019 and 2023 World Cups. Both matches were won by South Africa. Additionally, South Africa has won all three of their Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has recently gained attention after reaching the semi-finals in the T20 World Cups. They also performed well in the ODI World Cup, defeating teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and England.