Darts results: Michael van Gerwen among day one winners at New Zealand Darts Masters

Trailing 5-4, van Gerwen threw a majestic 164 finish to draw level with a stunned Anderson, before breaking throw in the deciding leg despite throwing just 116 with his first six darts.

With Anderson first to a finish, van Gerwen could only sit and suffer as his opponent lined up double 20 for the win, missing low before also failing with three darts to take out the remaining 20.

That left van Gerwen with an opening and he hit double 10 with his second attempt to somehow scrape through.

“I’m not proud of anything I did today," said the three-time world champion.

"I feel sorry for everyone who is watching because I let myself down tonight and I always want to put on a show for everyone in the crowd and watching at home.

"I made so many mistakes tonight but I will be back tomorrow and play much better than this."

James Wade also produced finishing fireworks to get out of jail and beat Craig Caldwell 6-5.

Despite winning the first leg, Wade found himself 4-2 and 5-3 behind, Caldwell's burst starting with a brilliant 142 checkout in the second leg as he took control of the match.

Wade was staring at another shock defeat having been knocked out by Damon Heta in Brisbane a fortnight ago, but the left-hander then turned on the style with back-to-back finishes of 116 and 140 to force a deciding leg.

Throwing first in the final leg, Wade held firm to hit double top and edge into the second round, where he'll face Peter Wright after he hit a 130 checkout in a 6-1 victory over Heta.

Simon Whitlock was the first big casualty as he went down 6-4 to Ben Robb, who rattled off four legs in succession to lead 4-2 and completed the job with an 80 checkout.

Daryl Gurney had no such issues in beating David Platt, despite making a meal of winning the first leg.

After that, Gurney was back close to his best, a 118 finish putting him 5-0 up before Platt salvaged a respectable scoreline with finishes of 64 and 80, before his opponent closed the deal.

Rob Cross was also a 6-2 winner against Warren Parry, averaging just shy of 100 in a performance which included a 132 finish, while Gary Anderson was below his best in a 6-3 success against Haupai Puha.

The final match of an engrossing session saw Raymond van Barneveld sneak past Cody Harris 6-5.

Van Barneveld scored well enough to win the match by a much wider margin, but 22 missed attempts at double almost cost him a place in round two.

In the end, a fifth maximum in what was the deciding leg helped see off Harris and with a 161 checkout earlier in the match, there were plenty of positives for the veteran ahead of Saturday's clash with Gurney.

"Wow, that was tough,” said van Barneveld. "After going up 3-1 I just kept missing and missing and gave him a chance.

"After the 161 I felt good and thought I had the match but he hit the amazing 150 finish. I am just very happy to get the win and come back tomorrow.

"I want to give the crowd a lot more against Daryl on Saturday, they have been amazing to me this year."

New Zealand Darts Masters: Schedule & results

Friday August 16
First round (Best of 11 legs)
TV Coverage: Delayed on ITV4 from 7pm BST

• James Wade 6-5 Craig Caldwell
• Simon Whitlock 4-6 Ben Robb
• Daryl Gurney 6-2 David Platt
• Rob Cross 6-2 Warren Parry
• Gary Anderson 6-3 Haupai Puha
• Peter Wright 6-1 Damon Heta
• Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Kyle Anderson
• Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Cody Harris

Saturday August 17
Quarter-finals (Best of 15 legs)
TV Coverage: Delayed on ITV4 from 7pm BST

• Peter Wright 4-8 James Wade
• Daryl Gurney 6-8 Raymond van Barneveld
• Michael van Gerwen 8-5 Gary Anderson
• Rob Cross 8-3 Ben Robb

Semi-finals (Best of 15 legs)

• James Wade 5-8 Raymond van Barneveld
• Michael van Gerwen 8-3 Rob Cross

Final (Best of 15 legs)

• Raymond van Barneveld 1-8 Michael van Gerwen