Smith went 8-1 up and barring some late resistance from Clayton, he eased through with 64% on the doubles, a high checkout of 126 and four 180's.

While for his opponent, he was down at 3/15 in the end. Next up for the 2019 finalist is Mensur Suljovic who himself produced a brilliant win earlier tonight against Jamie Hughes.

Smith and Clayton exchanged breaks of throw to begin the tie with the latter weighing in with a 126 checkout on the bull. But from there, it was all 'Bully Boy'.

He went 2-1 up with a 103 checkout and with Clayton down at 1/10 on the doubles, Smith was allowed to forge a three-leg cushion at 4-1 up.

It began to look even more bleak for Clayton with Smith going on to break again and lead comfortably 6-1 with a 126 on the bull of his own as he surged towards the second round.

He went 8-1 up from there with no sign of resistance from 'The Ferret' as Smith made it 8/10 on the doubles and for Clayton, he was without a hold of throw and was heading out of proceedings fast.

He finally stopped the rot hitting double 12 after Smith missed double 20 for a 120 finish to go within one but at the interval, Smith was looking good at 8-2 up.

Clayton held from there though for the first time in the match to make it 8-3. Could he make a late surge?

A brilliant leg saw Smith hit a 10 darter to go one away from victory which he concluded next up to finish the second night at the World Matchplay.

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

Mensur Suljovic (100.35) 12-10 (101.13) Jamie Hughes
Glen Durrant (107.29) 10-3 (96.71) Jeffrey de Zwaan
Rob Cross (94.4) 8-10 (89.38) Gabriel Clemens
Peter Wright (98.94) 10-8 (96.21) Jose de Sousa
Michael Smith (101.81) 10-3 (91.1) Jonny Clayton

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