The win moves Australian Whitlock up to second place in the table, however he is once again playing second fiddle to Phil Taylor, who romped to a sixth successive victory.

Taylor averaged 106 en route to a comfortable 8-3 win over Andy Hamilton, however another Stoke thrower props up the table after Adrian Lewis crashed to an 8-6 defeat at the hands of the resurgent James Wade.

The remaining match in Glasgow saw fan-favourite Raymond van Barneveld pick up his second win of the season courtesy of an impressive 8-5 triumph over Kevin Painter.

Comfortable

But it was local player Anderson who the majority of the 8,000-strong crowd wanted to see prevail, however the Scot failed to follow the script as he succumbed to the unflappable Whitlock.

Both players missed chances as the opening two legs went against the darts and Whitlock's profligacy then handed Anderson the third leg and a 2-1 lead.

The next three legs went with the darts - Whitlock nailing a 164 finish in the fourth leg - before the Australian gained the upper hand with what proved to be the match-winning break in the first leg after the interval.

He followed that up with a 105 finish to extend his lead to 5-3 and then comfortably held on as the remaining legs saw no further breaks.

League leader Taylor maintained his unbeaten record in the competition and opened up a four-point lead at the top with a comfortable 8-3 victory over Hamilton.

The world No.1 was not at his record-breaking best although he still averaged 106 and hit 50 per cent of his doubles in the battle of the Stoke throwers.

Taylor captured the opening leg in 13 darts but World Championship runner-up Hamilton levelled with a superb 150 finish before breaking for a surprise 2-1 lead.

Finishes of 60 and 72 put Taylor back in the ascendancy and he nailed his second 13-darter to move 4-2 ahead at the interval.

The first two legs after the restart were shared and Taylor then landed his only 180 of the night on his way to securing the ninth leg.

A break in the 10th leg ended any hopes of a Hamilton comeback and Taylor wrapped up the victory with his highest finish of the night - 104 in the 11th leg.

Command

In-form Wade earlier avenged his World Championship semi-final defeat to Adrian Lewis in the opening match of the night.

The Aldershot-based left-hander let a 5-1 lead slip against the world champion at Alexandra Palace but he was always in command as he secured an 8-5 victory.

The defeat left bottom-of-the-table Lewis still seeking his first win of the tournament, while 2009 champion Wade has now notched three straight victories after losing his first three games.

Dutchman Van Barneveld then capped off an entertaining evening with a 8-5 win over Painter.

The popular Dutchman was roared on by the sell-out crowd at the SECC and took advantage of some crucial misses by the Englishman in a match that featured nine breaks of throw.

The momentum appeared to be with Painter when he landed a superb 157 finish in the fourth leg and followed up with his second break to lead 3-2.

There were two further breaks either side of the interval and Van Barneveld broke again in the eighth leg after Painter had missed the bull for a 130 finish.