Van Gerwen Strikes Early Blow Against Anderson

Michael van Gerwen powered to a 7-3 victory over reigning champion Gary Anderson on night two of the Premier League in Newcastle.

The world No 1 averaged over 111 during his red-hot display against Anderson, who was making his first appearance in the competition after recovering from a virus.

Six-time champion Phil Taylor then matched this scoring average against James Wade as he closed out a masterful 7-1 victory.

But Adrian Lewis sits on top of the table after he added his second win of the competition against Dave Chisnall.

The return of Anderson was eagerly awaited after he was unable to start his title defence in Leeds, but the Scotsman could not keep pace with the Dutchman in a blistering start.

Van Gerwen perhaps sensed a few signs of rust in his rival and hit double eight for an early break, while he raced through a 105 checkout to pull 3-1 ahead.

Anderson reduced the deficit to 4-3, but Van Gerwen merely cranked up a gear and his sky-high scoring allowed him to compile the next two legs for a commanding 6-3 lead.

He needed only 14 darts to wrap up the win, inflicting an opening defeat on Anderson with double 12.

In the final match of the night, Taylor served up a vintage exhibition of finishing in his thrashing of Wade.

Wade averaged over 101 himself, but could not compete with Taylor's ice-cool checkouts as the Stoke man ended with a 70% success rate.

'The Power', who was beaten by Raymond van Barneveld seven days ago, never looked in danger of another setback and slotted in a 127 checkout on his way to a confidence boosting victory.

Wade ended the evening on a low point as he had started with a 7-4 win over struggling debutant Michael Smith, who remains rock-bottom after his third straight defeat.

Peter 'Snakebite' Wright edged out Raymond van Barneveld to snatch a 7-5 victory in a scrappy encounter.

Playing with new darts, Wright was erratic from the start and only an equally inconsistent display from 'Barney' allowed him to claim his second win of the season.

But Lewis leads the way as he extended his winning start with a 7-4 victory over Chisnall.

'Jackpot' surged into a commanding 6-1 lead, but showed a few signs of nerves before finally ending the match on an 81-checkout.