Joy and pain for Michael van Gerwen in Cardiff

Michael van Gerwen pulled off the first whitewash of the Premier League season before falling to a 7-5 defeat against Gary Anderson on a busy night in Cardiff.

The Dutchman, who suffered his maiden loss of the campaign last time out in Aberdeen, was imperious in his first match on Thursday - averaging 116.9 on his way to a 7-0 demolition of James Wade.

A 154 checkout was just one highlight of a sensational performance by the Dutchman, who had to return to the oche later on for a second match with Anderson.

Van Gerwen, though, was unable to repeat his earlier heroics, as Anderson - who had earlier been thumped 7-1 by Stephen Bunting - halted the 2013 champion's momentum by holding for the opening leg.

Anderson broke to go 5-3 in front before Van Gerwen hit straight back as the match headed for a decider.

But Van Gerwen was unable to salvage the draw as Anderson picked up maximum points to remain within four of the current leader.

Fifth-placed Raymond van Barneveld, meanwhile, is closing in on a top-four finish following his 7-5 victory over Dave Chisnall.

That result placed pressure on fourth-placed Phil Taylor to get a win against Adrian Lewis, but the 16-time world champion was held to a 6-6 draw.

Van Barneveld, along with Lewis, now sits just a single point behind Taylor with three rounds left to come before the play-offs.