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Manchester - When the fixtures were announced for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in April last year, one Proteas match immediately stood out.
With this year's tournament played in a one-pool format where all 10 sides all play each other once, only the top four teams on the log are rewarded with a place in the semi-finals.
For South Africa, a Saturday, July 6 clash against old rivals Australia in Manchester was confirmed as their final group stage clash and the prospect of that fixture making or breaking their tournament quickly became a talking point.
World Cup clashes between South Africa and Australia are supposed to mean everything, but this weekend when the sides clash at Old Trafford, there will be very little to achieve for the Proteas.
While Australia need a win to solidify top spot on the table and a semi-final against New Zealand, the Proteas have been mathematically eliminated from the World Cup since losing to Pakistan at Lord's back on June 23.
Given the rich history between these two great cricketing nations, it will be an anti-climax of epic proportions.
The Proteas will use the next couple of days to speak about how there is no such thing as a dead-rubber against the Aussies, but that is exactly what awaits them.
The players have all enjoyed the week off since Friday's nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Durham, with many of them turning 'tourists' with their loved ones and families and exploring different parts of the country.
They will get together on Thursday in Manchester, with two full days of training before game day.
In the build-up to the fixture, it will be impossible to not think of the 1999 World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston.
That tied game, which ended in the most dramatic fashion, will forever remain an iconic moment in the tournament's history and one of the most painful memories from a South African perspective.
2019, 20 years on, represented an opportunity for the Proteas to return to England and exorcise those demons once and for all.
Instead, they have limped to what is arguably their worst ever performance at a World Cup and they have looked on as the likes of Australia, England and India have shown exactly why South Africa can no longer be considered a powerhouse of the modern game.
This will be the last time we see Imran Tahir and JP Duminy playing ODI cricket for the Proteas, but given the situation, not even that will give the contest the meaning it deserves.
Remarkably, South Africa's only win over Australia at a World Cup came in their first match of the 1992 tournament - their first after isolation - when Kepler Wessels' 81* (148) helped secure a famous 9-wicket victory.
Since then, however, the Proteas have not tasted any World Cup success against the Aussies.
The sides have met on just four further occasions, with Australia winning three of those and then the famous 1999 semi-final tie.
On that level, there is at least some motivation for the South Africans in that they can stop the rot that is their poor World Cup record against the Aussies.
Even if they do find a way to win, though, it will feel hollow.
We had had hoped for fireworks and a World Cup classic in Manchester, but all that awaits is a World Cup dud.
@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...
