Gary Anderson beats Adrian Lewis on Night Six of the Premier League Darts
Thursday 12 March 2015 23:35, UK
World champion Gary Anderson was in devastating form as he beat Adrian Lewis 7-1 on Night Six of the Premier League Darts.
Anderson averaged 108.98 for the match and hit four 180s in a thrilling game in front of packed house at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena.
The win means the Flying Scotsman moves up to third in the Premier League Darts table ahead of what will surely be an emotional night for Anderson next week in Glasgow.
Anderson hit checkouts of 127 and 145 during his match with Lewis.
Lewis was throwing with new darts and averaged a quality 103.08 in the game. Yet he had no reply to a dominant performance by 2011 Premier League champion Anderson, who won in 12 minutes and 12 seconds.
Chizzy loses
Earlier in the night, Dave Chisnall lost his first match of the Premier League, going down 7-3 to Stephen Bunting.
Bunting broke Chisnall in the second leg of the match and after that the momentum never ceased for The Bullet.
The St Helens pair both struggled with doubles early on, with Chisnall only hitting one from five attempts in the whole match.
Bunting lit up the evening with a terrific 164 checkout to make it 5-2, finishing it in style with the bullseye. He was oozing the confidence of a man in his opponent’s position in the table, not of the player who lost 10-0 to Peter Wright at last weekend's UK Open.
Chisnall looked quite the opposite, only scoring seven doubles attempts to Bunting's 18. The defeat means Chisnall slips to second in the table behind Michael van Gerwen.
Impressive
Also on the night, Dutch thrower Van Gerwen moved to top of the Premier League table with a win over Phil Taylor.
The top two players in the world were meeting for the first time this year and they both made nervy starts with the opening seven legs going against the darts.
However, Van Gerwen hit a 10-darter to hold his throw in the eighth leg and the Dutchman then rattled off the next two legs, as Taylor struggled with his finishing, to maintain his unbeaten record in the competition this year.
Barney in the relegation battle
Fellow Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld fell into the relegation places with a disappointing 7-1 defeat to James Wade.
Wade broke throw in the third leg, taking advantage of some really poor scoring by Van Barneveld, whose average dropped to as low as 78 during the match.
The Dutchman never looked in the game and nothing like the player that won last year's Premier League title. Wade punished the five-time world champion with an excellent average and some strong finishing.
"I'm happy," said 2014 Masters champion Wade. "The last two weeks I've lost to Phil when I was 4-1 up and I've lost to Gary when I was 4-1 up.
"I knew whoever I played tonight I would do enough - which is very unusual for me.
"Raymond played the worst I've seen him play in a long, long time."
Snakebite
In the final match of the night, Peter Wright recorded his first win of the Premier League campaign with a 7-5 victory over Kim Huybrechts. Wright said he was "delighted" with the win and to be off the bottom of the table.
Snakebite, who reached the UK Open final at the weekend, pounced late in the game to leave Belgian Huybrechts rooted at the foot of the table.
The Premier League continues next Thursday in Glasgow. Watch live on Sky Sports 1 from 7pm
