Betway World Cup of Darts 2016: Scores, Results, Updated Schedule After Friday

Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis saw England through to Round 2 of the 2016 World Cup of Darts on Friday, although they were given a fright by Spain in a 5-4 win.

The two former world champions had too much for Cristo Reyes and Antonio Alcinas in Frankfurt, eventually booking their place in the last 16 along with the likes of Scotland and the Netherlands. Northern Ireland, Wales and China were among the other nations to have made it through on another fascinating evening in Germany.

Here is a closer look at the results from Friday’s matches, the complete Round 2 schedule and an examination of how the stars fared on the night:

Czech Republic	3-5	China
Greece	2-5	Canada
Ireland	5-4	Hong Kong
South Africa	1-5	Singapore
Northern Ireland	5-2	Japan
Wales	5-1	Finland
England	5-4	Spain
Austria	5-0	Italy

England	vs.	China
Austria or Italy	vs.	Singapore
Wales	vs.	Canada
Northern Ireland	vs.	Ireland
Scotland	vs.	Norway
Belgium	vs.	Hungary
Netherlands	vs.	Philippines
Australia	vs.	Denmark

England Squeeze Past Spain

After testing matches for Scotland and Netherlands—seeded second and third, respectively—on Thursday against big underdogs, the English duo needed to ensure they took nothing for granted when they stepped up to the oche to face Spain.

Any thoughts of complacency were eradicated early, as the Spanish duo broke the England throw in the first leg of the match. But a 180 from Taylor helped retake the throw, and suddenly the game settled down into an unexpectedly even tussle.

This brilliant bullseye finish from Taylor, rounding off a 128 checkout, put England ahead 2-1 in the match, per Sky Sports Darts:

Spain kept the tie in the balance with some brilliant play, though, preserving an average up near the 100 mark. With the scoreline at 4-3 in favour of England, the pressure was on Alcinas and Reyes to hold throw, and once again, they did exactly that, capitalising on Taylor missing a match dart.

However, the odds were always stacked against them, and the composure of the Englishmen shone through.

As we can see here, courtesy of Live Darts, not much separated the two teams despite the pre-match expectations:

The English pair will face China in the second round. Yuanjun Liu and Wenge Xie will be buoyed by their win against the Czech Republic; a three-dart average of 80.81 will do little to strike fear into Taylor and Lewis, though.

Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney also made their way into Round 2, as they ended up securing a comfortable 5-2 win over Japan. However, as Dolan noted afterward, per Live Darts, things could have been different had their opponents not missed three crucial darts at 3-2:

Although there are a few unfamiliar players taking part in this tournament, it goes to show that the margins can be fine in these frantic contests. However, in Wales’ match against Finland, the class of the 2010 runners-up told.

Mark Webster and Gerwyn Price represented the Welsh, and after they surged to a 4-0 lead, the result of this one was never in doubt

Darts expert Dan Dawson hailed the strides the two players have made lately:

As always, the atmosphere conjured by the spectators was raucous. It was something the players evidently fed off, especially South Africa's Devon Petersen, who was on the end of a loss to Singapore, via PDC Darts:

There are a few fascinating contests to look forward to in the second round. The Republic of Ireland will face Northern Ireland in what should be a pulsating match, while Wales and Canada are two evenly matched pairs.

At the moment, it’s tough to see anyone usurping the Big Three of England, Scotland and the Netherlands to win the title. 

While they've all had their problems in the first match, the strength in depth they each posses in Michael van Gerwen, Raymond van Barneveld, Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton make them a formidable prospect.

Taylor and Lewis, eventually, showed they are of that calibre, too.