 Feeling much more confident, D 'Oliveira expected to be successful in the Oval Test match. Before the game, an unnamed MCC official circulated a story that D'Oliveira had been offered thousands of pounds to keep himself available for the South Africa tour. This was a similar story to that which D 'Oliveira had told Oosthuizen; it had probably travelled back to the MCC via South Africa, but was not true. When the game began, Australia held a 1 – 0 lead after four Tests; England needed a win to level the series. England made a reasonable start on the first day, but a late wicket brought D'Oliveira in to bat with the game delicately poised. Oborne observes that D 'Oliveira was under huge pressure, both for simple cricketing reasons and because the world was watching to see if he would be successful. Wisden reported: "In the last hour D'Oliveira began his fine effort. He hooked the short ball superbly". At the end of the first day, he had scored 23 runs.
