Friday 10 April 2015 09:39, UK
Phil Taylor suffered a crippling 7-2 defeat to Raymond van Barneveld on Night 10 of the Premier League Darts in Sheffield.
The 16-time world champion looked out-of-sorts as he crumbled to a second consecutive defeat in the tournament, hitting a paltry average of just 86 for the match.
Taylor appeared to complain of a draft early on in the game and his darts were laterally drifting left; regularly landing in the five segment.
However Van Barneveld, the reigning champion who scraped into the second stage of the competition with a Judgement Night draw against Gary Anderson, didn't have to muster much of a fight to beat his old rival.
With the loss of an early break, and just 18 per cent on his doubles, Taylor was unable to mount a comeback, leaving Barney cruising towards the victory and the five-time champions was delighted to take his chances.
"I was really focused tonight," said Van Barneveld.
"I don't believe Phil played really well. He missed a lot of doubles and let me in."
Chizzy at the double
Also on Night 10, Dave Chisnall lit up the oche with two scintillating wins.
The St Helens thrower put on a dominant display in a 7-3 victory over world champion Gary Anderson in his first match of the night, before later dismantling James Wade with a crushing 7-1 success.
Chisnall, who moved within a point of league leader Michael van Gerwen, hit nine 180s with a 107 average on his way to dismantling the Anderson. He then returned to the stage and swept Wade aside with an emphatic performance.
Chizzy finished with a 114.17 average for the match against Wade, who was also playing twice on the night having earlier suffered a 7-4 defeat to Adrian Lewis in the night's opener. Jackpot hit a match average of 97 on his way to just his third victory of the season's competition.
Mighty Mike
World number one Michael van Gerwen extended his unbeaten streak in the Premier League to 10 matches with a 7-5 win over Stephen Bunting.
Bunting, who was celebrating his 30th birthday on the night, put up a good challenge but couldn't match the Dutchman's big scoring.
Van Gerwen, who recently passed the £1million mark on the PDC Order of Merit, averaged 103 for the match and stays top of the Premier League table.
Watch Premier League Darts live every Thursday from 7pm on Sky Sports 1.
