Sport
Afghanistan and South Africa to meet in bilateral ODI series
South Africa will take on Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in UAE in September, 2024.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the first-ever bilateral series between them will be played from 18 - 22 September in the United Arab Emirates.
This ODI series will be the first meeting between Afghanistan and South Africa outside of ICC tournaments, with all three games set to be hosted by ACB at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
The two sides have met twice in the ODI format before, in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cups 2019 and 2023, with South Africa emerging victors on both occasions. Similarly, they've met three times in T20Is before, in Men's T20 World Cups (2010, 2016, 2024), with Proteas winning on all occasions.
Their last meeting was in the semi-final of the Men's T20 World Cup 2024, where South Africa raced to a formidable win over Afghanistan.
CSA Chairman Lawson Naidoo called the tour a significant milestone in South Africa and Afghanistan's cricketing relations.
“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.”
ACB Chairman Mirwais Ashraf commented: “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.”
Sport
Afghanistan beat UAE by 8 wickets in U19 tri-nation series
Afghanistan Under-19 cricket team defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) U19 by eight wickets in the sixth match of the tri-nation series in Dubai on Sunday.
Asked to field first by UAE U19 who won the toss, Afghans bowled out the hosts for 88 runs in the 36.3 overs.
Afghanistan U19 chased down the target in the 21.2 overs.
Naseer Khan Maroofkhil claimed three wickets. Abdul Aziz Khatir Stanikzai and Rohaullah Arab picked up three wickets each.
Afghanistan U19 will play final against Pakistan U19 on Tuesday.
Sport
Faf du Plessis smashes 75 off 32 balls in Abu Dhabi T10 League
South African player Faf du Plessis showcased his batting brilliance by blasting a blistering 75 for Morrisville Samp Army against New York Strikers in the fifth game of the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday.
The 40-year-old reached his fifty in just 22 balls. He remained unbeaten on 75 off 32 balls, hitting five boundaries and six sixes.
Samp Army posted 135-1 in 10 overs, 41 of it coming from Adndries Gous’s bat, and they won the match by 36 runs.
It was one of the four matches played on Friday.
In the other matches, Northern Warriors defeated Delhi Bulls by 7 wickets, with Jonson Charles hitting a fifty.
Team Abu Dhabi thrashed UP Nawabs by 8 wickets after bowling them out for just 51. Mark Adair claimed four wickets. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and Zeeshan Naseer picked up two wickets each.
In the last match of the day, Deccan Gladiators beat Ajman Bolts by 20 runs. Gladiators set a target of 138 runs, with Jos Buttler making 60 runs off 22 balls.
In reply, Ajman Bolts fell short on 117 despite captain Mohammad Nabi blasting 43 off 13 balls.
Sport
Ariana News to broadcast IPL auction live and exclusively in Afghanistan
The highly anticipated TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) Player Auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25 - an event that will be broadcast to Afghanistan’s cricket fans live and exclusively by Ariana Television and Radio Network (ATN).
The two-day event will be broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana News.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this year. It will be the second time that the IPL mega auction is held outside India after last year's event in Dubai.
This year's mega auction will have 1,574 players registered, of which 574 names will go under the hammer.
Of those 574, a total of 366 players will be Indian and 208 will be foreign cricketers.
A number of big names will be in fray, with as many as 81 players choosing to register themselves under the highest base price bracket of Rs 2 crore ($237,000).
Afghan players
Eighteen Afghan players have been shortlisted for the IPL mega auction.
Two hundred and four (204) slots will be up for grabs with 70 available slots for overseas players.
Full list of Afghan players shortlisted for the auction:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Noor Ahmad
Waqar Salamkheil
Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman
Azmatullah Omarzai
Naveen-ul-haq
Zahir Khan Pakten
Sediqullah Atal
Mohammad Nabi
Gulbadin Naib
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Najibullah Zadran
Ibrahim Zadran
Qais Ahmad
Karim Janat
Faridoon Dawoodzai
Nangyal Kharote
For cricket fans across the country, the IPL mega auction broadcast will be on Sunday and Monday from 1.30pm Kabul time on Ariana News. For more information and updated stories be sure to watch this space and follow us on social media.
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