SA to play three T20Is instead of five against West Indies due to clash with T20 WC

Johannesburg [South Africa], September 30 (ANI): South Africa's home T20I series against West Indies during the home international summer has been reduced to three T20Is from five due to clash with the T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

As per ESPNCricinfo, the matches, originally scheduled from January 27 to February 6, will now end by January 31 when the T20 WC support period starts. Two fixtures have been removed from the list.

Newlands in Cape Town and Buffalo Park in East London would not host the matches, with three matches to be played at Boland Park in Paarl, SuperSport Park in Centurion and the Wanderers in Johannesburg on January 27, 29 and 31 respectively. No ODI cricket will take place, and hence the final T20I will be the "Pink Day" fixture, an annual occasion in which the South African men's team dons pink colour to raise funds and awareness against breast cancer.

Proteas have also added three under-19 ODIs against India to their calendar for summer, to be played from January 3 to 7 in Benoni as a preparation for the under-19 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia from mid-January. Fixtures for the tournament are yet to be announced.

The current ICC World Test champions are having a curtailed home season, playing abroad till December 19. Their World Test Championship (WTC) mace defence will start in Pakistan next month, where they will play an all-format series with three ODIs and T20Is each. This will be followed by an all-format flight to India, with matches being two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.

The other reason for lack of home matches is because the venues around South Africa are being prepared for the 2027 ODI World Cup, to be jointly-hosted with Zimbabwe and Namibia. Drop-in surfaces are being developed country-wide for the same. The home season will be headlined by the fourth season of SA20, starting from December. (ANI)

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