Premier League darts results: James Wade and Michael van Gerwen draw in a Birmingham thriller

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Wade and MVG serve up classic

James Wade produced yet another superb display but it wasn't quite good enough to inflict a Unibet Premier League double on birthday boy Michael van Gerwen in Birmingham.

The Machine, who is enjoying a fabulous return to his best this season thanks to three PDC titles as well as this impressive Premier League season, moved into a 7-5 lead as he attempted to become just the second player ever to claim a pair of regular season victories over the Dutchman having crushed him 7-3 in Exeter back in February.

But on his 30th birthday, MVG ensured he'd have some reason to celebrate by reeling off back-to-back legs in 12 and 13 darts to ensure he maintains a one-point lead at the the top of the table ahead of Rob Cross, who drew with Gerwyn Price earlier in the night.

The world champion averaged 106.78 compared to Wade's 103.66 and hit three more 180s with four but the match was characterised most by lethal finishing from both players.

Wade hit seven of his 11 attempts at a finish, including two on the bullseye for back-to-back 121 checkouts in the second and third legs, while van Gerwen only missed three darts at doubles and also took out a pair of 100+ checkouts himself - 117 and 107 to level the scores at 4-4 and 5-5 respectively.

The Dutchman, who headed into the clash on the back of winning his 30th career European Tour title on Monday, managed a pair of 12-darters in a high-quality showdown in which all legs were won in 15 or fewer but the best was Wade's 11-darter, finished off with an 84 checkout to go 4-3 up.

In the end a draw was a fair result and van Gerwen said: "It's a point but I can only blame myself for that but it was a good game.

"I broke his throw straight away but he had two phenomenal 121 finishes. He was throwing on confidence and feeling, and it was tough but a draw wasn't too bad and I can't really complain."

Price lets Cross off the hook

Gerwyn Price's roars were muted by his own failure to convert any of his four match darts as Rob Cross rescued a 7-7 draw after being out played for much of the contest.

The Iceman was almost revelling in the customary pantomime booing that greets his all his matches away from Cardiff, subjecting the crowd to playful finger to the lips treatment and his usual bellowing celebrations.

A fired up Price had turned an early 3-1 deficit into 6-4 and 7-5 leads as he punished Cross' below-par efforts with consistent high scoring and clinical finish but couldn't finish the job and was that annoyed about it, he refused to talk to the TV cameras afterwards.

Credit must go to the former world champion, who averaged 97.81 compared to Price's 101.18, for fighting back with a late rally and preventing a loss which would have seen him potentially getting dragged into the race for the play-offs having spent most of the season with his head well above water in first or second place.

Cross hit all three of his 180s from 6-4 down, with his first being followed up with an 89 checkout to complete a fine 12-darter.

The Grand Slam of Darts champion hit back with his second and last maximum to go one leg from victory before spurning three match darts from 36 at 7-5 and then another at tops in the decider as Cross pinned double 16 for a closing 14-darter.

Voltage's clinical finishing of 58.33% (7/12) and two 100+ checkouts, including a match high 120 in the opening leg, kept him in touch of Price early on while the Iceman's late meltdown on the doubles saw him finish with a checkout percentage of 50%.

The Hastings man moves onto 18 points - three above third-placed Price - and with three weeks of the regular season remaining, his place at Finals Night at the O2 is almost sealed.

"It's a valuable point for me," said Cross. "It wasn't my best game in the Premier League this year but I got the draw.

"I expected Gerwyn to hit the winning double and he would have deserved it, so it's nice to get a bit of luck for once."

Gurney chins Snakebite

Daryl Gurney gave his chances of reaching the Premier League play-offs for the first time a shot in the arm with an 8-4 victory over Peter Wright, whose season goes from bad to worse.

The Northern Irishman averaged just shy of 100, hit four 180s and pinned eight of his 14 attempts at doubles in a sterling all-round display as he moved onto 14 points - just one behind the top four with three games to play.

Gurney also landed three 100+ checkouts, including a best of 116 that opened up a 6-4 lead, while an impressive 81 finished off a match-winning 12-darter.

Wright, who is now definitely out of the running for the O2 after dropping to the bottom of the table with nine points below Michael Smith on legs difference, started brightly enough by going 2-0 up and although Gurney won four of the next five, a match high 124 checkout completed a 12-darter to level the scores at 4-4.

However Snakebite was unable to get another leg on the board and ended the match with an average of 96.04, a single maximum and a 50% checkout percentage.

"It was a must-win game for me so it's good to get the win," admitted Gurney. "I put a lot of pressure on myself going up there but I found my range after four or five legs.

"I've still got work to do and I probably need to get five points from my remaining three games, but I'll be trying my hardest to get to the Play-Offs."

Bully Boy blows big lead

Mensur Suljovic fought back from 6-2 down to draw 7-7 with Michael Smith - although it was Bully Boy who had to win the last leg to snatch a point.

It was all an all too familiar story for Smith as he once again played much better than his lowly position in the table only to throw away a commanding position.

The 2018 runner-up headed into the campaign with high hopes having also reached the World Championship final but can no longer reach the Play Offs for the second successive season while Suljovic is well positioned to get to Finals Night for the first time in his career.

Smith, who threw seven maximums to take his league leading tally to 48 and averaged 101.25, was well on course to claim his fourth victory of the season before Suljovic began his comeback with a superb checkout of 120 to reduce the gap to 6-3.

A finish from 84 completed a 12-darter and two more legs followed from the on-fire Austrian to square the match before a 116 checkout got his nose in front for the first time in the match.

Suljovic, who averaged 100.13 and threw three maximums, was waiting on double top when the St Helens man found double eight with his last dart in hand but he'll still feel the draw was a point gained.

Smith blew 14 of his 21 darts at doubles as Suljovic hit seven of his 19.

"I knew it was going to be hard to get into the top four and I had to win today, but at 6-2 I fell asleep and let him in," admitted Smith.

"I've given up on getting through but I want to finish the season well and get my game back to where I want it to be."

The point moves Suljovic a step closer to securing a Play-Off place, and the Austrian said: "I'm so happy. It's very good for me to come back from 6-2 behind.

"Michael played brilliant darts but I never give up and I'm in good form."

2019 Premier League Darts Table

1. Van Gerwen P 13 W 8 D 3 L 2 LegD +33 Pts 19
2. Cross P 13 W 8 D 2 L 3 LegD +17 Pts 18
3. Wade P 13 W 5 D 5 L 3 LegD +14 Pts 15
4. Price P 13 W 5 D 5 L 3 LegD +5 Pts 15
5. Suljovic P 13 W 6 D 3 L 4 LegD +4 Pts 15
6. Gurney P 13 W 6 D 2 L 5 LegD -1 Pts 14
7. Smith P 13 W 3 D 3 L 7 LegD -14 Pts 9
8. Wright P 13 W 2 D 5 L 6 LegD -18 Pts 9
9. Relegated: Van Barneveld P 9 W 1 D 2 L 6 LegD -22 Pts 4

Night 13 results and next week's fixtures

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Night 13 - Thursday April 25

• Mensur Suljovic 7-7 Michael Smith
• Rob Cross 7-7 Gerwyn Price
• Daryl Gurney 8-4 Peter Wright
• James Wade 7-7 Michael van Gerwen

Night 14 - Thursday May 2
The Manchester Arena
TV Channel: Sky Sports (1900 GMT)

• James Wade v Gerwyn Price
• Daryl Gurney v Michael van Gerwen
• Peter Wright v Mensur Suljovic
• Rob Cross v Michael Smith

Tickets: 0844 249 1000 or click here

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