World Matchplay: A Mighty Mike perfect leg to entitle big payout

The second round of World Matchplay quarter finals takes place and we’ve sounded out two tasty punts to compliment what’s sure to be fantastic evening of dartistry.

The first contest pits two in-form Stoke natives together with Andy Hamilton taking on Adrian Lewis in a repeat of the 2011 World Championship final.

Jackpot won that prestigious bout and the recently crowned European champion is understandable 8/15 favourite to claim the spoils here. He’s prevailed in 13 of his 23 clashes with the Hammer, but this tussle could be a lot tighter than the pre-match betting forecasts.

Hamilton, who is seeking a first major darting accolade, is in excellent form, absolutely crushing Ronnie Baxter in the opening round 10-1. He rarely missed a double in that game and was almost as impressive in his last-16 tie with Ian White, where he recorded a 46 per cent checkout rate.

However, despite these two strong showings, he wasn’t prolific in his huge finishes. His highest of the tournament thus far is a 111 in his opener with Baxter.

Lewis struggled with his scoring in his first match but improved it in the second to comfortably despatch Brendan Dolan 13-5. A raise in his scoring prowess still only yielded a largest checkout of 101 though.

So with neither player finishing in style, the 5/6 on offer for the heftiest finish in the game to fall short of the 136.5 mark looks excellent value.

The second bet is far more adventurous but reaps far richer rewards.

The price for a nine-dart finish, the ultimate tungsten-tossing achievement that can be recorded in any one match, in Michael van Gerwen’s tie with Dave Chisnall is 14/1 and there’s definitely cause to back it.

Dutch dartist van Gerwen is a scoring monster, demonstrating so in his last outing where he completely obliterated Peter Wright 13-3 with a 105.58 average. He passed the first two checkpoints en route to nine-dart joy, but fell short when it came to throwing the seventh both times. In addition to this, Mighty Mike recorded one of his three career nine-dart finishes at the Winter Gardens last term.

Opponent Chizzy has also slung two perfect legs in his career too, making this a respectable long shot in the main event.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date