Auckland Darts Masters second round: Taylor and MvG hungry for maiden NZ title

Back Barney, who was runner-up here in the first edition in 2015, to come through by a 10-8 scoreline at 8/1.

Gary Anderson v Peter Wright

Next up is an all-Scottish battle between world champion Anderson (4/9 favourite) and Wright (7/4), who have recently been the subject of a war of words.

This is surprisingly their first ever World Series of Darts meeting, but The Flying Scotsman boats a 16-11 winning record over his compatriot and has lost just once in their last seven duels.

Anderson tends to thrash Wright when they lock horns, and so is 10/1 to triumph 10-4 this time around.

Phil Taylor v Adrian Lewis

World Cup winning Potters pair Taylor and Lewis tussle for the first time since their triumph in Frankfurt, and as always it is the former who is favourite (2/5) to topple his former protege (2/1).

The Power has won a whopping 52 of their 69 meetings, two being drawn, with three of them coming most recently.

Taylor is certainly a man nearly back to his best, and looked in imperious form against Rob Szabo in round one, smashing him 6-0.

With this being one of the very few competitions he’s never claimed, he’ll be extra determined and ruthless. All-time great Taylor is a tempting 4/1 to lift the title and 7/2 to be King of the Oche against Lewis.

Michael van Gerwen v James Wade

Like Taylor, Van Gerwen will be hungry to get his hands on this trophy that has eluded him too, and he is the even-money favourite to capture it.

Fellow multiple major title winner Wade (9/2 match shout) stands in his way in the quarters, but the world number one is heavily odds-on at 1/7.

The Machine has actually beaten the usually dominant Dutchman in three of their last four outings, so this could go all the way. MvG is 12/1 just to edge it 10-9, therefore.

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Coral’s top tip: Back Barney to beat Chisnall 10-8 at 8/1.