The world No.1 moved seven points clear at the top of the table, although he was given a tough battle by his Stoke rival, who missed a dart at the bull to earn a draw.

Hamilton started strongly and charged into a 2-0 lead before Taylor found his rhythm as he rattled off four straight legs to lead 4-2 at the interval.

The charge was halted by a 141 finish from Hamilton and the next six legs went with the throw, Hamilton taking out 86 on the bull in the 13th leg after Taylor had missed two darts at double 16 for the match.

Taylor failed to find the bull for a 124 finish in the 14th leg and Hamilton then missed the bull himself on 84, allowing The Power to seal the win on double eight.

High quality

Raymond van Barneveld recorded his highest televised average of 112.28 as he defeated Kevin Painter 8-6 in the opening match the night.

Englishman Painter was suffering his fourth successive defeat but gave the Dutchman a late scare as he fought back from 7-3 down to force a decider.

Van Barneveld's superb finishing saw him take command from the outset and he led 4-2 at the interval, although Painter was far from disgraced as he just failed to land several big finishes.

Painter's first break made it 5-3 but Van Barneveld broke straight back with an 11-darter after opening up with six straight maximums and he then took the following leg to move to the brink of victory.

World No. 10 Painter refused to throw in the towel and maintained his hopes of snatching a draw with finishes of 76, 90 and 120 before Van Barneveld finally wrapped up the win by landing double 10.

"I'm very happy with my average," said van Barneveld. "I know what I can do and I showed that tonight. I've not been consistent week-on-week but I'm working hard.

"Kevin came back brilliantly from 7-3 down. It's a really tight league and everyone still has a chance of making the top four."

Leapfrogged

Adrian Lewis leapfrogged James Wade into third place the table with an 8-5 success over his fellow Englishman.

The world champion won the opening leg but Wade then took command by reeling off the next three legs, a superb 11-darter making it 3-1.

Lewis replied with an 11-darter of his own and the two legs either side of the interval were shared.

The Stoke star claimed his first break to level it up at 4-4 and he made it four legs on the trot as he opened up a 6-4 advantage.

Wade, the 2009 champion, finally stopped the rot in the 11th leg but Lewis maintained his charge by securing the next two legs for a crucial two points.

"I thought I was the better player and I dominated the match," said Lewis. "I should have gone into the break at three each but I missed the bull, and I dug in after that.

"The last time we played, in Glasgow, James was the better player but I was the better player tonight. I was averaging about 110 for most of the match and hit a lot of 180s.

"I didn't jump on James at the start and I was waiting for him to kick in, and put myself under pressure. I knew I couldn't afford to lose this game and I knuckled down and got the job done."

Response

And Simon Whitlock bounced back from last week's whitewash by James Wade with an 8-2 triumph over Gary Anderson in Nottingham.

The win moved the Australian up to second place in the McCoy's Premier League Darts table, while defending champion Anderson is now three points adrift of a play-off spot in sixth.

Anderson, who missed the last round in Cardiff in order to attend his father's funeral, lost the opening leg to a 13-dart finish from Whitlock.

A 143 checkout in the second leg got the Scot off the mark but Whitlock then took total command by winning five straight legs.

Anderson gave himself a glimmer of hope by winning the eighth leg, but Whitlock responded with a brilliant 10-darter before sealing the victory with a 74 checkout.