Amid great public interest—the game was advertised as "the match of the century"—and great tension, the decisive final Test match was played. Peel took four wickets in Australia's first innings, then scored 73 runs in England's first innings, sharing a 162-run partnership with Archie MacLaren. In Australia's second innings, Peel took three more wickets to return match figures of seven for 203 in 94 overs. Jack Brown scored a century to guide England towards a target of 297, and Peel eventually hit the winning runs. Peel ended the series with 27 wickets at 26.70, second in the averages behind Tom Richardson, and 168 runs at 18.67, placing him sixth in the batting averages. David Frith suggests that this series was vital in establishing the importance of Test cricket, and that the interest felt in both England and Australia, and the coverage by the press, set up the pattern and expectations of future Test series. In all first-class games, Peel scored 421 runs at 21.05, to be eighth in the averages, and took 57 wickets at 25.28, placing him third in the averages behind Richardson and Briggs, although the latter had fewer wickets.