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ZIMBABWE’S limited-overs series at home to Afghanistan has been brought forward to start a week earlier, while the two sides will now only meet in three instead of five Twenty20 international cricket matches as originally scheduled.

These changes were agreed by Zimbabwe Cricket and the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

According to the new itinerary, the tour will begin with three one-day international matches scheduled for June 4, 6 and 9 at Harare Sports Club.

Afghanistan have named two 16-member squads for their rescheduled white-ball tour.

The ODI series is part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, a 13-team competition serving as the main route for qualification for the 2023 edition of the 50-over ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup to be staged in India.

Afghanistan are currently fifth on the Super League table with 70 points, while Zimbabwe are 12th with just 35 points.

Zimbabwe and Afghanistan will then lock horns in three T20I matches scheduled for June 11, 12 and 14, also at Harare Sports Club, with the games set to start at 1pm local time.

The T20Is will serve as part of Zimbabwe’s final preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B 2022, which is one of two global tournaments that together form the final stage of the qualification process for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 to be staged in Australia.

Zimbabwe will host the eight-team qualifying tournament in July.

Afghanistan ODI squad

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah (vc), Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Ibrahim Zadran, Ikram Alikhail (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Mujib ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rashid Khan, Riaz Hassan, Shahidullah Kamal, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zia ur Rahman Akbar

Reserves: Noor Ahmad, Nijat Masoud

T20I squad

Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Afsar Zazai (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ihsanullah Janat, Karim Janat, Nijat Masoud, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rashid Khan, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Usman Ghani

Reserves: Zahir Khan, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad

ODI Itinerary

June 4 — 1st ODI, Harare Sports Club, Harare

June 6 — 2nd ODI, Harare Sports Club, Harare

June 9 — 3rd ODI, Harare Sports Club, Harare

 T20I Itinerary

June 11 — 1st T20I, Harare Sports Club, Harare

June 12 — 2nd T20I, Harare Sports Club, Harare

June 14 — 3rd T20I, Harare Sports Club, Harare — Sports Reporter/ZimCricket