Until then, Peel had been ineffective in the match. Several of the England team, including Peel, drank heavily in the night thinking the game was lost, but overnight rain drastically changed the nature of the pitch. Peel had not sobered up when play was scheduled to start, although Stoddart had given him a cold shower to speed up the process, and arrived late. As another player was also missing, the start was delayed; this allowed the pitch to dry further and therefore become more sticky and difficult to bat on. Peel had slept through the overnight storm and was astonished when he saw the state of the pitch, suspecting someone had watered it. He reportedly said: "Gi' me t'ball, Mr Stoddart. Ah'll get t'buggers out before lunch". With Briggs, Peel bowled Australia out, taking five wickets to go with the one he took the previous evening to finish with six for 67. Australia scored 166 and lost by ten runs. One Australian newspaper reported that Peel "found the match rather a trying one, and came in fairly done up". The English team were praised for fighting back, but the role of the weather was acknowledged, and some critics blamed the Australians for batting badly in the second innings.