Jonny Clayton threw a nine-darter as he continued his fine form with a 7-3 victory over Jose De Sousa on the third night of the Premier League in Milton Keynes.
The Welshman averaged 105.26, threw five maximums and hit the perfect eighth leg en route to a second win in three matches, moving behind Michael Van Gerwen and Dimitri Van Den Bergh in the early table on leg difference.
De Sousa racked up a remarkable 108.48 average himself but, having miscounted and bust 70 with the score 2-2, could not contain the Masters champion.
𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘-𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗧𝗢𝗡! Jonny Clayton lands a PERFECT leg in the 2021 @unibet Premier League! Incredible scenes for the in-form Welshman! pic.twitter.com/QiHXI5w14f — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 7, 2021
Clayton told PDC.tv: "I'm a happy man, it's brilliant. I know my kids will have been bouncing around the house tonight watching that.
"It was a great game, Jose is a brilliant player. We've played each other a few times on tour and I knew I'd have to play my best to win and thankfully that's what I did.
"It's all going well for me at the moment. The darts are flowing nicely, my confidence is high and I'm enjoying it.
Got it! When you average 108 and your opponent pops in a nine against you... https://t.co/yyhNz86tYm — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 7, 2021
"I won't get ahead of myself though, my aim is still just to make sure I'm still in the competition after Judgement Night."
Van Gerwen showed signs of returning to his destructive best during a 7-3 victory over Rob Cross – a repeat of the 2019 final.
The Dutchman boasted a 107.58 average and produced four maximums as he backed up his win over Peter Wright on Tuesday night.
Very happy with the result and performance this evening. I felt amazing on the stage. Credit to Rob as he pushed me the whole game. Feels nice to be done early as now I can get some food in and play a bit of COD. Thank you for all the messages from everyone across the day 💚💚 pic.twitter.com/bTlIJwoQtY — Michael Van Gerwen (@MvG180) April 7, 2021
Van Den Bergh kept his impressive start to his debut Premier League campaign going with a 7-0 whitewash of out-of-form defending champion Glen Durrant.
Durrant, averaging 84.42, missed 16 darts at doubles as he slipped to a third consecutive defeat to sit bottom of the table.
Wright got off the mark with a 7-4 win over Scotland World Cup team-mate Gary Anderson, while fourth-placed Nathan Aspinall beat James Wade by the same scoreline as he displayed further signs of improvement following a poor run of form.
