Johannesburg, Jul 31 (IANS): Afghanistan will host South Africa for three-match ODI series from September 18 to 22 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ODI series is the first-ever bilateral series between the two sides with all three matches to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

South Africa has faced Afghanistan on two occasions in ODI cricket during the last two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups in 2019 and 2023.

This series will mark their first encounter since South Africa defeated Afghanistan in the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in Trinidad and Tobago last month.

“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," said CSA chairman Lawson Naidoo in a joint statement with ACB released on Wednesday.

ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf added, “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.”

Fixtures:

Wednesday, September 18

Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE

Friday, September 20

Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE

Sunday, September 22

Afghanistan vs South Africa - Sharjah Cricket Stadium, UAE