2019 Betfred World Matchplay – Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney Preview & Prediction

THE FACTS

When is Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney taking place? Saturday 27^th July, 2019

Where is Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney taking place? Winter Gardens, Blackpool

What channel is Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney on? Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Action

Where can I stream Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go

Where can I get tickets for Rob Cross vs Daryl Gurney? Check https://www.pdc.tv/betfred-world-matchplay-tickets for ticket information

THE STATISTICS

All-time meetings: Rob Cross 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Last meeting: Rob Cross beat Daryl Gurney 6-5

THE PLAYERS

ROB CROSS

• Rob Cross passed his first real test of the tournament on Friday evening when he held off a strong comeback from Stephen Bunting to reach the semi-finals at the World Matchplay for the first time.
• ‘Voltage’ looked to be coasting through when he led 9-4 but ‘The Bullet’ produced some excellent quality to level the match at 10-10 and with the next eight legs all going with throw the game looked like it was heading for extra-time with the scores locked at 14-14. It was here Cross stepped up and showed his brilliance with a 10-dart hold followed by a 13-dart break of throw to end the brave challenge from Bunting.
• His scoring against Bunting was the best he has produced during the 2019 Matchplay so far with a first-nine average of 112.06 and a total of 13 180s hit during the contest – the highest match total of 180s during the 2019 tournament.

DARYL GURNEY

• On Friday night Daryl Gurney ended Peter Wright’s 20-game winning streak in a high-quality quarter-final encounter. The number three seed won 16-13 with the match never having more than a two-leg difference until Gurney won three consecutive legs when the scores were level at 13-13.
  
• It was by far the most high-calibre game of the tournament with Snakebite hitting 12 180s and averaging over 105 until the very final leg – Gurney kept his own average above 101 during the whole contest and the key stat was the Northern Irishman’s checkout percentage of over 51% which was 21% higher than during his win over Brown in round two.
• Of the four semi-finalists he is the only one to have reached this stage of the World Matchplay previously having done so in 2017 when he lost 17-15 to Peter Wright. Overall this is his eighth PDC major ranking semi-final appearance.

THE PREDICTION

Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney were involved in very competitive matches on Friday night and there is likely to be more of the same in their semi-final clash on Saturday night. The way in which Gurney held off the challenge of a very much in-form opponent in Peter Wright to produce his best darts of the tournament so far over such a long format shows the ability and mental toughness the Northern Irishman possesses, and he will relish the chance to upset the odds again against the number two seed. Cross has performed to a high-level throughout the tournament so far and showed no lack of bottle when coming through his tussle against Bunting who produced his best performance on the TV stage in a number of years. It really is set-up for a thrilling semi-final battle which has the potential to go to ‘extra-legs’. Gurney is tipped to show his steely resolve and edge out the number two seed in a match where the maximum count is predicted to exceed over 18.5.