PCB unveils South Africa series schedule

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced that the Men in Green would tour South Africa for three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Tests.

Durban, Centurion, and Johannesburg will host T20Is from 10-14 December. The ODIs will be played from 17-22 December in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, while the two ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 matches will be held at Centurion (26-30 December) and Cape Town (3-7 January).

The side will depart for Durban on 2 December after returning from Australia on 19 November, having featured in a series of three ODIs and three T20Is from 4-18 November. After completing their African safari on 8 January, the national side will take on New Zealand and South Africa in a three-nation ODI tournament on home turf, which will be followed by the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.

Prior to the tours of Australia and South Africa, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for two and three Tests, respectively. This means they will play seven Tests, minimum of 10 ODIs, and six T20Is in the six-month period from August 2024 to January 2025.

This will be Pakistan’s seventh Test tour of South Africa since 1994-95. Their two Test wins were in the 1997-98 and 2006-2007 series. In the Durban Test in 1997-98, Pakistan won by 29 runs at the back of centuries from Azhar Mahmood (132) and Saeed Anwar (118), match figures of nine for 149 by Mushtaq Ahmed and a first innings five-fer by Shoaib Akhtar. In the 2006-2007 Port Elizabeth Test, Pakistan won by five wickets with Inzamam-ul-Haq being named as Player of the Match for his 92 in the first innings.

In ODIs, Pakistan has won two of the last three series in 2013-2014 and 2020-21, while South Africa triumphed in 2002-2003 (4-1), 2006-2007 (3-1), 2012-2013 (3-2), and 2018-2019 (3-2).

In 12 T20Is to date, Pakistan leads 6-5 in head-to-head encounters, with one match ending in no-result.

Tour schedule

10 Dec – 1^st T20I, Durban

13 Dec – 2^nd T20I, Centurion

14 Dec – 3^rd T20I, Johannesburg

17 Dec – 1^st ODI, Paarl

19 Dec – 2^nd ODI, Cape Town

22 Dec – 3^rd ODI, Johannesburg

26-30 Dec – 1^st Test, Centurion

3-7 Jan – 2^nd Test, Cape Town