Michael van Gerwen beats Phil Taylor to go top

Michael van Gerwen surged to the top of the Premier League Darts standings on Thursday with a dominant 7-3 victory over 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.

The Dutchman controlled proceedings throughout in Nottingham, posting a 107.61 average in a win he finished off with a 13-darter.

Van Gerwen moves to the summit at the expense of Dave Chisnall, who succumbed to a 7-3 loss to Stephen Bunting.

But there was no such luck for Raymond van Barneveld, whose hopes of repeating his 2014 triumph were hit by a 7-3 reverse against James Wade.

That defeat leaves Van Barneveld in the bottom two with Kim Huybrechts after the latter was beaten 7-5 by Peter Wright.

Wright hit four 180s on the way to his first win of the 2015 Premier League season.

Reigning world champion Gary Anderson produced a magnificent performance to put two-time world champion Adrian Lewis to the sword 7-1.

The Scot delivered a devastating demonstration of scoring, recording a 108.98 average with four 180s and capping his performance with a 145 checkout.