DARTS supremo Boring Winners (@BoringWinners) has been in outstanding form at the World Matchplay. Here's his verdict on the final.
World Matchplay Darts | 30th July 2017 | Sky Sports
Another day of fine margins on Saturday night, we were one 180 away from landing the Daryl Gurney bet, and a ton plus check out in the Phil Taylor match from landing as well. What makes it worse, is that he had six darts missed at a double for a ton plus check out.
Our 100/1 outright Gurney fell at the final hurdle. Had he made the final, we would have been guaranteed a 50/1 payout with place money – but it was not to be. He did give us a great run for our money though to be fair.
Our other outright Phil Taylor (recommended at 25/1) has made the final and he is the 1/2 favourite to lift the Matchplay title. He's played much better throughout the tournament than his opponent Peter Wright, so our outright pick should win.
For Sunday night's only bet I've decided to leave out the match market and focus on the 180's as we already have Taylor to win the tournament outright. Essentially, there's no point in putting all our eggs in one basket, in case Taylor fails to win.
Peter Wright v Phil Taylor | Sunday 19:30 | Sky Sports
For this particular outing, I fancy over 27 Legs, Taylor to hit over six 180's, Taylor to score the most 180's and Wright under 11 180's at 21/10 with William Hill.
The over 27 legs will land if the game finishes 18-10 or better. I can't see either player not reaching this landmark. Taylor will definitely reach 10 legs the way he's playing, and Wright should as well. He played poorly on Saturday night, but he's much better than that. Adrian Lewis took nine legs off Taylor on Sunday evening while averaging 93 over a shorter format in the semi-final.
Peter Wright will average better than that tonight. Also when they last met it was in the Premier League semi-finals and the match finished 10-9, so we could be in for another tight affair on Sunday night.
Maximums advantage for the Power
I never thought I'd say this but throughout the tournament, the 180's between the two has been a total mismatch in favour of Taylor.
He's brought back his 180's which has been missing from his game for a while. In round one he hit two against Gerwin Price, but he was never pushed in the game enough to warrant bringing out his A-game, in round two he hit four against Raymond Van Barneveld with the match going just 14 legs.
In the quarter-final, he hit 10 against Michael Van Gerwin and the game only went 22 legs, and then finally last night he hit eight against Adrian Lewis over 26 legs. So in his last three matches, he's hit 22 180's over 62 legs – which are an average of an 180 every 2.8 legs.
If this game goes just 28 legs you would expect Taylor to hit 10 180's, which is well above the over six 180's mark I have set and will make it very hard for Peter Wright to hit more maximums.
Wright struggling for 180's
Wright, on the other hand, has really struggled on the maximums front throughout the tournament. His constant switching of flights and darts has really hindered his chances of getting 180's as he's finding it difficult to get into a rhythm. Even when Wright played excellent against Cristo Reyes in round two averaging 104, he still only hit three 180's.
Wright hit two 180's in round one over 18 legs, hit three in round two over 15 legs, hit five in the quarter final's over 28 legs, then last night hit just four 180's in 32 legs. So in this tournament Wright has hit 14 180's in 93 legs of play which is an average of an 180 every 6.6 legs. If this game finishes with 28 legs you'd expect just four 180's off Wright in this time which is seven off.
If this game finishes with 28 legs you'd expect just four 180's off Wright in this space, which would cancel the under 11 180's mark that I've set and just six 180's off Taylor's total.
Best Bets
Peter Wright v Phil Taylor – Over 27 Legs, Taylor Over six 180's, Taylor Most 180's, Wright Under 11 180's at 21/10 (William Hill)
