This is after he saw off Justin Pipe in a 10-5 victory where he reeled off five straight legs from 5-5 to move through despite not being at his brilliant best.

He averaged 90, hit two 180's and a high checkout of 120 against a valiant effort from 'The Force' who before the tournament had elbow problems which kept him out of the latter end of the PDC Summer Series.

To begin the tie, Anderson and Pipe both held throw but for the former, he only hit 1/8 on the doubles as he missed chances to break. He didn't have such problems making it 2-1 hitting double 20 first time.

But it didn't go to plan for Anderson with Pipe claiming the first break of throw with a 122 checkout on the bull to make it 3-2.

https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1284594529287516160?s=20

Anderson broke back after Pipe missed darts at double eight to hold and make it 4-2. He regained the upper hand with an 80 checkout at 4-3 up.

A 13-darter saw 'The Force' keep with proceedings and hold once more at 4-4 and this continued with it locked in at 5-5 despite both giving themselves opportunities to break including Anderson who missed double 20 for 104 to make it 6-4.

Pipe missed three darts for 6-6 and Anderson pounced to make it 7-5 with a 120 checkout to finally established daylight.

https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1284600752095232008?s=20

Two poor visits though in the requisite leg allowed Pipe a chance to break but only after Anderson missed two double 20's for a 134 checkout. Pipe though missed double 20 for a 65 checkout and Anderson went over the hill with double 10 to make it 8-5.

He went two treble 20's into a 170 but decided to set it up instead to have three clear darts to break again and he did so hitting double 10 to make it 9-5. He concluded it with a 112 checkout to move through successfully.

Click here for more information about the World Matchplay, including the tournament bracket, TV coverage and prize money breakdown.

Simon Whitlock (89.96) 10-4 (90.11) Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski (107.53) 10-4 (96.47) Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade (96.54) 12-10 (98.65) Keegan Brown
Michael van Gerwen (100.34) 10-7 (91.88) Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson (90.59) 10-5 (87.41) Justin Pipe

https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1284602493968822272?s=20