Taylor five points clear

15-times World Champion overpowers former pupil - again

Phil Taylor has gone five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after handing another darts masterclass to Adrian Lewis in Birmingham on Thursday.

The Power beat his former protege 8-4 at the National Indoor Arena - the youngster therefore still without a win against the 15-times World Champion in front of the television cameras.

Lewis made a good start in the evening's final match, winning the first leg with a 13-dart finish before breaking his opponent.

However, both men struggled with their finishes in the second leg and although Taylor soon remedied the problem, his opponent was left floundering.

Taylor broke back before levelling and although Lewis went 3-2 ahead, he then proceeded to lose the next five legs in a row - Taylor on course for a nine-darter as he stole a 6-3 advantage.

Lewis only managed a 25 per cent success rate with his finishing and Taylor later told Sky Sports: "That's the difference between the top pros and the young lads. That's what's made me a multi-millionaire.

"That's what the secret is. And it's doing it under pressure - that's the hardest part. Everyone can do it on the floor, everyone can do it in practice. It's when it matters."

Rollercoaster

Mervyn King still stands second in the table despite losing the first match of the evening 8-6 to Simon Whitlock.

It proved a rollercoaster of a contest, with the Australian racing into a 3-0 lead before his opponent won the next five legs in succession. 'The Wizard' immediately broke back but a 161 checkout from King gave him a two-leg lead.

However, from there on in it was all Whitlock as he reeled off four straight legs to move up a place to fourth in the table.

James Wade, who won seven straight leg wins to beat Whitlock in Brighton last week, later scored an 8-5 victory against Terry Jenkins to go fifth in the standings.

Unlike the King v Whitlock contest, the match was a nip-and-tuck affair early on, with each player immediately breaking the other before they found themselves locked at 3-3.

Wade won the next with the throw before gaining a break for 5-3 and given Jenkins' struggles in this year's tournament, the result from that point on was never really in doubt.

Ronnie Baxter's form appears in marked contrast to that of Jenkins and in the third match he outperformed Raymond van Barneveld to register an 8-4 win.

'The Rocket' took four legs in a row, the 124 checkout he achieved to go 4-1 up surpassed by the 164 finish to make the scoreline 6-2 - a deficit that proved beyond the Dutchman.