England are World Cup of Darts champions after Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis scraped a dramatic victory over Australia in the Hamburg final on Sunday night.
Simon Whitlock and Tyneside-born Aussie Paul Nicholson, who are both ranked in the top 10 of the PDC order of merit, provided the opposition for the Stoke-on-Trent pair.
'The Power' beat Nicholson 7-4 and Lewis defeated Whitlock 7-5.
Taylor then averaged 106, despite missing 19 shots at a double, to edge out Whitlock 7-6 and give England a 3-0 lead.
Nicholson had to beat world champion Lewis to keep the final alive and did so, taking the match 7-4 to reduce the arrears to 3-1.
The final match was a doubles contest and was worth two points, which meant an Australia win would level the scores and force a sudden-death final leg.
Seemingly suffering from fatigue, Lewis threw erratically and Australia swiftly took the doubles match 7-4 to level at 3-3.
Taylor, the former mentor of his partner, won the bull-off, but a slow English start to the leg handed Australia the initiative and Nicholson had three darts at 56 to win the competition.
Nicholson failed to convert, as did Taylor from the same score, and, after Whitlock bust on 20, Lewis hit double-five to steal victory.
England overcame Canada, USA and Wales to reach the final.
Robert Summerscales
