• Premier League Darts

Van Gerwen rebounds from Taylor loss to beat Lewis

Michael van Gerwen tops the Premier League Darts standings © PA Photos

Enlarge

Michael van Gerwen rebounded from defeat to Phil Taylor in Aberdeen to see off Adrian Lewis 7-4 and top the Premier League Darts standings.

Lewis and Van Gerwen were all square at 3-3, before double eight gave the Dutchman the lead. The reigning champion then opened the next leg with 180 and 140 before getting his first break with a third-dart double 16.

Van Gerwen took out 78 on tops to secure at least a point, and was left to sweat after Lewis finished 126 on the bullseye to pull it back to 6-4, only for the Dutchman to complete victory with 56 on tops.

Raymond van Barneveld had briefly replaced his compatriot at the top of the table with a comprehensive 7-1 victory against Robert Thornton, after Van Gerwen lost his first match of the night 7-4 to 16-time world champion Taylor.

The defeat to Taylor had been only Van Gerwen's second of the season. Taylor had stormed into a 4-1 lead, but Van Gerwen pegged him back to 4-4.

However Taylor kicked off the next leg with a maximum and never looked back, taking out tops to break throw and move ahead once again. He then secured at least a point by landing tops for 6-4 before taking out double eight to claim the win.

Lewis' chances of making the play-offs appear to be over now after slipping to second from bottom in the table, having also lost 7-4 to Gary Anderson earlier in the night.

Anderson stormed into a 6-0 lead against Lewis, before Lewis fought back with the next four legs. Anderson then completed victory on double five after Lewis failed to take out 91 to keep his hopes alive.

Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall saw off Peter Wright 7-4. Chisnall went 4-0 up before Wright fought back to 4-3. They traded 180s before Chisnall take out 64 on tops to extend his lead to two legs, and followed that up by taking out 11 on double four for an 11-dart leg and 6-3.

Wright stayed in the match by finishing 91 with a miracle third dart bullseye, after blocking the bed by hitting the outer bull with his first dart. However Chisnall stood firm and completed victory by finishing 85 on tops.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd