Follow UsSouth Africa will take on Zimbabwe in a four-day warm-up match ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The match will be played from June 3 onwards at the Arundel Castle Cricket Ground in Sussex.
The Proteas will use this opportunity to get some match fitness and acclimatise to the conditions before having a crack at winning their first ICC trophy since 1998.
The Temba Bavuma-led side have not played Tests since their 2-0 series win at home against Pakistan in January. Zimbabwe are coming off the back of their historic four-day Test against England at Trent Bridge. That marked their first-ever Test in England in over two decades.
They went down by an innings and 45 runs in the match, but had plenty of positives, including Brian Bennett's ton in the first innings. They will be without Sikandar Raza, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava for the warm-up fixture, but have the likes of Sean Williams, Bennett, Victor Nyauchi, Clive Madande, and Craig Ervine, who will certainly give South Africa a tough test.
Moreover, this also gives an opportunity to assess the Proteas, as they play two Tests against them in Bulawayo in June and July.
Australia, who are the defending WTC champions, will look to be the first team to win back-to-back editions when they take on South Africa in the final on June 11 at Lord's.