South Africa Shortens Home Series Against West Indies

Due to scheduling conflicts with the T20 World Cup, South Africa’s home international men’s series against the West Indies has been reduced. The series will now consist of three T20Is instead of the originally planned five.

The series, which was initially set to take place between January 27 and February 6, will now conclude by January 31, which marks the start of the World Cup preparation period. As a consequence, two matches have been removed from the schedule.

The cities of Cape Town (Newlands) and East London (Buffalo Park) will unfortunately no longer host matches.

The three matches will instead be held at Boland Park in Paarl, SuperSport Park in Centurion, and the Wanderers in Johannesburg on January 27, 29, and 31, respectively.

With no home ODIs scheduled this season, the last T20I will be designated as “Pink Day.” This is an annual event where the South African men’s team dons pink uniforms to promote awareness and raise funds for breast cancer treatment.

Separately, South Africa has scheduled three Under-19 one-day matches against India from January 3-7 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni as preparation for the Under-19 World Cup.

The Under-19 World Cup, jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia, is scheduled to begin in mid-January, with the match schedule to be announced.

The reduction in South Africa’s home schedule is partly attributed to a busy international schedule abroad.

South Africa is scheduled to defend its World Test Championship title in Pakistan next month, alongside three ODIs and three T20Is, followed by a full tour of India involving two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is.

The limited number of home fixtures is also due to ongoing preparations at various venues for the 2027 ODI World Cup, which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Drop-in pitches are currently being developed across the country as part of these upgrades.