South Africa Plays Zimbabwe Warm-Up in England Ahead of WTC Final

South Africa is set to play a four-day warm-up Test match against Zimbabwe from June 3 at Arundel Castle Cricket Ground in Sussex, England, as preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia starting June 11. This warm-up match serves as South Africa's first red-ball cricket since their 2-0 series win over Pakistan earlier in 2025, providing crucial practice ahead of the marquee final. Zimbabwe, coming off a historic one-off Test against England after 22 years, will miss key players Sikandar Raza, Blessing Muzarabani, and Richard Ngarava but still field a competitive side including Sean Williams and Brian Bennett. Following the warm-up game, Zimbabwe will host South Africa for a two-match Test series named the 'Battle of Limpopo' from June 28 to July 10 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. South Africa’s squad for the WTC final includes captain Temba Bavuma and key players such as Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen. Zimbabwe aims to use both the warm-up and upcoming series to gauge South Africa’s strength and build on recent experiences against top Test nations.