Champions Trophy 2025: Afghanistan to host South Africa for three ODIs in Sharjah in tune-up for mega event

Afghanistan will host South Africa in a three-match ODI series in Sharjah in late September. This will mark the first-ever bilateral series between the two sides and also serve as a tune-up for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirmed the developmentvia a joint media release on Wednesday (July 31).

Notably, theProteas have played Afghanistan only twice in ODIs, both during the last two editions of the World Cup (in 2019 and 2023).The two teams recently clashed in the semifinals of the 2024 T20 World Cup, where eventual runners-up Aiden Markram-led South Africa thrashed the Rashid Khan-led Asian side by nine wickets in Trinidad.

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."

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Meanwhile, Ashraf's CSA counterpart Lawson Naidoo added, "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."

Afghanistan-South Africa ODI SeriesSchedule:

1st ODI onSeptember 18

2nd ODI on September 20

3rd ODI onSeptember 22

All the games will be held at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium in Sharjah.

Interestingly, both Afghanistan and South Africa are also placed in the same group in the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB)draft schedule for next year's Champions Trophy. The mega event is scheduled to be held in Pakistan where Group A comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand whereas the other group includes Australia, England, South Africa and the Afghans.