Bates tests Taylor

Taylor: Under pressure

SKY SPORTS ON SKY
From football to fishing and everything in between, including cricket, rugby, golf and tennis - there's some amazing coverage coming up on the five Sky Sports channels. Plus, with the launch of Sky Sports News HD this summer, all five channels will soon be available in stunning high definition, only with Sky. Click here for more

Also see

• Darts Super 6
• On Sky TV
• Schedule/Results
• Sid Waddell
• £5 Free Bet

Phil Taylor reached the second round of the StanJames.com World Matchplay on Tuesday night with a 10-6 victory over Barrie Bates in Blackpool.

The Power set a new tournament record average of 115 in beating the Welshman, although Bates certainly gave his opponent a tough workout and even edged in front mid-way through their match.

Taylor, who is looking for an 11th Matchplay title, started in style with a 180 and immediately broke Bates for 2-0.

A missed bull separated Taylor from a 164 check-out in leg three but Bates then started to bite back, pinching legs before breaking Taylor for 4-4 with a 76 check-out.

Taylor was guilty of missing check-outs and despite his high average, a missed double 10 then allowed Bates to edge ahead.

However, any hopes Bates might have had of pulling off a shock were soon extinguished as Taylor finally found his groove.

Five straight leg wins were the result, although Taylor admitted to Sky Sports that Bates came close to causing him real worry.

"When it came to five legs each, all I thought was 'you've got to keep your darts'," he said. "Obviously there's a tie-break so you're not too worried. But if you lose your darts and go 7-5 down then you've got problems.

"I couldn't seem, apart from the first leg, to break him on his throw. And I missed four or five darts for double and his finishing was superb tonight. He really put me under some pressure."

Drama

The evening's first match brought plenty of drama as Kevin Painter managed to find a way back from 8-2 down to beat a faltering Colin Lloyd 11-9.

"I thought I was gone to be honest," Painter said. "I was playing some good finishes, I stuck with it and I never give up and Colin started to go a little bit.

"When you're 4-1 down and someone's playing as well as Colin was, you obviously think you're going to lose. But you've got to stick with it and chip away and see if you can get a little sniff of the double.

"To be fair, I think I gave five legs away in the first half of the match - and Colin will say the same."

Painter will now play Mark Walsh, who unlike Lloyd managed - but only just - to hold his nerve against a resurgent Mark Dudbridge.

Having built a 5-0 lead, Walsh proceeded to lose seven of the next nine legs with Dudbridge also taking the match to a tie-break.

Crucially, Walsh broke for 11-10 but even with the throw he only just crawled across the finishing line, finally hitting double five to win after Dudbridge had missed the same target.

The night's final match proved the most one-sided as former world champion Steve Beaton beat Paul Nicholson 10-3.