Black Caps to face Afghanistan in historic Test match

The Black Caps are set to play Afghanistan in a test match for the first time in September.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced in a statement the one-off test would take place at Greater Noida, India from September 9 to 13, roughly one month before New Zealand’s three-test tour of India.

It will be Afhanistan’s 10th test and their third in 2024 having already lost to Sri Lanka and Ireland – the most they would have played in a calendar year. Afghanistan, which acquired test status in 2017, has only won three of its 10 tests, against Ireland (2019), Bangladesh (2019), and Zimbabwe (2021).

ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf said it was “delighted” to host New Zealand and was working to reach an agreement with New Zealand Cricket for white-ball bilateral matches in the future.

“We are delighted to host a quality New Zealand test team for the first time in our cricketing history. This is a testament to the hard work we have put in through numerous discussions and meetings with different boards on the sidelines of the various ICC Board Meetings.”

Following the New Zealand test, England, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa will be the only countries to have not played against them in a test. Australia pulled out from hosting them in a test in 2021 citing humanitarian issues.

Australia also pulled out of the three-match T20I series due to take place next month.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission