England duo Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis teamed up to claim World Cup glory with victory over Australia in Sunday night's final.
Australia miss four darts at the title in final thriller
England duo Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis teamed up to claim World Cup glory with victory over Australia in Sunday night's final in Hamburg.
The English pair appeared to be cruising to victory over Paul Nicholson and Simon Whitlock after racing 3-0 ahead with successive singles victories.
However, when Nicholson beat two-time reigning world champion Lewis and the Aussie duo claimed a 7-4 victory in the doubles, the title was to be decided by a sudden-death leg.
'The Power' got England the throw when he nailed the bull and, despite allowing the Aussies five darts at the match, Lewis was allowed to return to seal the win on double five.
Taylor gave England the perfect start to the final when he overcame Nicholson 7-4 in the opening rubber.
'The Asset' claimed an early advantage when he broke Taylor in the fifth leg, however the 15-time world champion responded in style with a 94 checkout to level at 3-3.
Impressive
Both men traded legs to make it 4-4, however Taylor then pressed his foot on the accelerator and sealed the opening point for England on double 16.
Lewis then took on the in-form Whitlock in a match which took a similar pattern to the one which preceded it.
At 5-5 the match hung in the balance, but Lewis stepped up to produce a scintillating 161 checkout to edge ahead and a slick 72 checkout clinched victory.
Taylor then took on Whitlock and, despite missing 19 darts at doubles, 'The Power' still notched a 105.9 average to come out on top.
Whitlock took out double six to force a deciding leg, however Taylor blew 'The Wizard' away in 11 darts to clinch an entertaining 7-6 win and put England on the brink.
Nicholson kept Australia alive with an impressive 7-4 victory over Lewis, taking the match into the doubles rubber in the process.
The Aussies raced into a 3-0 lead, a deficit England never recovered from as Whitlock wrapped-up a 7-4 win with a sublime 124 finish on the bull.
That drew the scores level, meaning the title would be decided by a sudden-death leg.
Nicholson missed two darts at the match, as did Whitlock, and England somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Lewis hit double five.
Both teams had booked their place in the final with crushing 5-1 semi-final victories earlier in the day. England thrashed Wales while Australia overpowered Holland.
