Australia won the toss. The match began in damp conditions, and before the pitch began to dry, at which point it would become extremely difficult for batting, the Australian opening batsmen scored 135 in 90 minutes; Australia's total reached 173 for one wicket at lunch, and Victor Trumper scored a century in that time. MacLaren was subsequently criticised for allowing Australia to score so quickly, but claimed that his carefully planned strategy was rendered obsolete when Trumper began to strike the ball out of the ground. MacLaren commented: "I couldn't very well have had a man fielding in the bloody practice ground, now could I?" The bowlers recovered the situation to some extent, and following a century from Jackson, England trailed by 37 runs after the first innings. In the second innings, Australia collapsed to the England bowlers, but Tate dropped a crucial catch while stationed by MacLaren at the edge of the field. MacLaren also received criticism for this, as Tate was unaccustomed to fielding on the boundary. Gibson notes that MacLaren "later spent much breath defending himself on this point"; although it is not clear how Tate came to be moved—a later interpretation is that MacLaren moved Tate there rather than ask an amateur player to cross the field for a few deliveries—most commentators agree that this was the turning point of the match. England were left needing 124 runs to win. MacLaren opened the batting, having batted at number four in the first innings, and tried to score quickly, but was caught from a big hit. According to Gibson, he returned to the dressing room in fury, throwing his bat across the room and saying that he had "thrown away the match and the bloody rubber ". Gibson suggests that the implication that only MacLaren could have guided England to victory must have had a demoralising effect on the remaining batsmen, and speculates that he felt guilty over the composition of a team that looked likely to lose. Gibson comments: "This does not say much for MacLaren as a captain. Indeed, it has always seemed to me a shocking performance, from the choice of the team to the chuck of the bat." Wickets continued to fall and Tate, the last batsman, was bowled when England needed four runs to win.