World Matchplay Darts Preview – Friday, July 26th, 2019 at 7:15 pm
Former World Champion Rob Cross is through to the quarterfinals of the World Matchplay for the first time ever. He has a favourable draw as well because he will continue his tournament against unseeded players when he takes on Stephen Bunting in this one.
Rob Cross v Stephen Bunting Winner Odds*
Rob Cross 1/6
Stephen Bunting 4/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 25th, 2019 at 7:31 pm)
Can Cross reach the final four in Blackpool?
Rob Cross always looked as if he was primed to make a decent run at the World Matchplay this season. He was a losing finalist at the UK Open and more recently in the Premier League. So he had a bit of form going in top tournaments. A favourable draw at the Winter Gardens has helped him as well, as it has allowed him to play some relaxed stuff. He was untroubled in an opening 10-3 reverse against Chris Dobey.
In the second round, it was an 11-5 win over Krzysztof Ratajski that Cross took, to set him up with the shot at the final four. Even though he has not had a real test yet, his scoring has been superb. Cross delivered a three dart average of just over 100 in his first match, and was up at 98.5 in the second round. He is an overwhelming favourite to win through this tie and a Cross -4.5 handicap is at 8/11 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 25th, 2019 at 7:31 pm).
Head to head
There have been two previous meetings between Rob Cross and Stephen Bunting. From those, it has been all one-way traffic in favour of Cross 2-0
Can Stephen Bunting beat Rob Cross?
Just as this has been the best run at the World Matchplay for Cross, it is Bunting’s best effort as well. Bunting is a former BDO World Champion but in seven seasons on the PDC he has never managed to win a major title. He did have a surprising burst of form at The Masters this year when he took a quarter-final berth. That was after a quarter-final at the Players Championship Finals last year. But still, the Bullet looks to be a long way short of actually landing a big title.
Burning caused a shock in the first-round though in beating seventh seed Gerwyn Price 13-12 in a thrilling match. Bunting had managed to survive two match darts against him. He was then up against 10th seed Ian White in the second round and again Bunting delivered the goods with a 14-12 success. That was only after White missed five match darts. So that’s two long matches that he has been through and his three dart average has been above 93 in either fixture.
Predictions
Cross has played 22 fewer legs in this season’s World Matchplay than Bunting has done. That tells a pretty big tale actually. It basically shows the massive fight that Bunting has had to get this far. He has ridden his luck as well. Cross looks pretty cool, composed and dialled in and should thrive under the longer match conditions. Cross to land the most 180s at 8/11 looks a nice deal as he’s cruising* (betting odds taken from bet365 on July 25th, 2019 at 7:31 pm).
