Postpublished at 20:28 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 5-2 Clayton
Rod Studd
Commentator on Sky Sports
The lead is starting to grow and grow in significance.
Summary
World Matchplay semi-finals in Blackpool
Luke Littler defeats Josh Rock 17-14 to set up final against James Wade
James Wade beats Jonny Clayton 20-18 in epic encounter
Littler v Wade in Sunday's final at the Winter Gardens (20:00 BST)
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Postpublished at 20:28 British Summer Time 26 July
Postpublished at 20:28 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 5-2 Clayton
John Part
Former PDC world champion on Sky SportsThe score is starting to reflect how much better James Wade has played than Jonny Clayton in this match.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 20:27 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 5-2 Clayton
Boos from the crowd as James Wade turns down the chance to go for the big fish.
He hits the two treble 20s but lays up rather than going for the bullseye with Jonny Clayton not down to a finish.
The crowd didn't like it but it works out for Wade, double 10 gives him a three-leg lead.
Wade breakspublished at 20:25 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 4-2 Clayton
James Wade applies the pressure with a 180 as Jonny Clayton waits on 64.
The Welshman can't hit double 16 for a 64 out and Wade has a shot at 61.
No mistake from the Aldershot thrower. Two darts - 25 then double 18 - to go up a break again.
Clayton breaks backpublished at 20:19 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 3-2 Clayton
Immediate response from Jonny Clayton.
He makes the most of a sloppy leg from James Wade, hits tops at the third attempt and we're back on throw.
Wade leads at the end of the first session and is averaging 107.96 - he'd hope for a bigger advantage than this given those numbers.
Postpublished at 20:18 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 3-1 Clayton
Rod Studd
Commentator on Sky SportsJames Wade has thrown for the bullseye four times in this tournament so far and hit it every single time.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 20:17 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 3-1 Clayton
John Part
Former PDC world champion on Sky SportsThat's a real blow to Clayton.
Wade takes out 161 to breakpublished at 20:17 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 3-1 Clayton
Brilliant from James Wade!
Jonny Clayton misses the bull for a 121 out so Wade shows him how it's done with a bullseye of his own to take out 161.
Fantastic stuff to earn the first break of the match.
Postpublished at 20:15 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 2-1 Clayton
John Part
Former PDC world champion on Sky SportsThis match is settling into more of James' typical pace than Jonny's.
Wade retakes the lead with 11-darterpublished at 20:15 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 2-1 Clayton
Six perfect darts to start the leg from James Wade and the crowd are dreaming of the first nine-darter at this year's tournament...
Nope, the seventh drops below the treble 20 but Wade is unfazed.
He finishes off the leg in 11 rather than nine.
Postpublished at 20:13 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 1-1 Clayton
Jonny Clayton has the crowd on their feet with the first 180 of the night.
It sets him on his way to what should be a straightforward hold but three missed darts at double give James Wade a sniff.
But he can't hit with his one dart at tops and Clayton comes back to hit double four and level it up.
Postpublished at 20:11 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 1-0 Clayton
James Wade is up and running with a fairly comfortable hold of throw.
He's first down to a finish, leaves himself double 18 and, with Jonny Clayton waiting on 101, gets it at the third attempt.
After missing his first 11 at double in the quarters, that'll be a relief for Wade.
Postpublished at 20:10 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade 0-0 Clayton
Here we go then, James Wade to throw first in this first semi-final...
Game on!
Head-to-headpublished at 20:09 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
Clayton's route to the semi-finalspublished at 20:07 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
Jonny Clayton, runner-up in 2023, started this year's competition in fine form as he defied a 103 average from Martin Schindler to win 10-7.
Another hard-fought victory followed as Clayton, with the help of nine 180s, was able to hold off a late Mike de Decker fightback.
While the first two matches were edgy, the quarter-finals were anything but for the Welshman who cruised past Stephen Bunting with an average of 98.13 and a 50% doubles success rate.
- First round: beat Martin Schindler 10-7
- Second round: beat Mike de Decker 11-8
- Quarter final: beat Stephen Bunting 16-7
'I think Clayton is going to have a little too much'published at 20:06 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
Mark Webster
Former BDO world champion on Sky SportsIt's a real close semi-final. Both have had impressive routes to the semi-final. It's going to be close but I think Jonny is going to have a little too much.
Wade's route to the semi-finalspublished at 20:05 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
James Wade's tournament started off in comfortable fashion as he breezed past fellow Englishman Joe Cullen 10-3 in round one.
It was more of the same for Wade in the second round as he hit 11 of his 17 double attempts to cap off a ruthless victory against Wessel Nijman.
The 42-year-old found himself 4-1 down early doors to Gian van Veen in his quarter-final tie but fought back brilliantly to earn another impressive win.
- First round: beat Joe Cullen 10-3
- Second round: beat Wessel Nijman 11-5
- Quarter final: beat Gian van Veen 16-13
Postpublished at 20:04 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
Wayne Mardle
Former World Championship semi-finalist on Sky SportsThere aren't a lot of negatives around James Wade at the moment other than it's hard for him to keep up this 102, 103 average like he did in round one and two because he has never done that before. Those were the best averages he has produced in the Matchplay.
Experienced duo battle for final spotpublished at 20:02 British Summer Time 26 July
Wade v Clayton
Image source, Getty ImagesHaving made the final two years ago, Jonny Clayton will be hoping to go one better this year.
The Welshman, 50, was in fine form as he brushed aside fourth seed Stephen Bunting to reach the semi-finals, winning 16-7.
He finished the match with an average of 98.13 and 50% success rate on the outer ring to set up a tasty last-four tie against James Wade.
The 2007 champion Wade rolled back the years during his 16-13 quarter-final victory over Gian van Veen.
Wade, 42, was 4-1 down to the Dutchman after some early issues on the doubles that left him "disgusted".
However, he had a word with himself at the break and won the next eight legs on the spin - so it clearly did the trick.
This is Wade's 10th Matchplay semi-final and he's made it through to the final in six of the previous nine, most recently in 2015.
Postpublished at 20:01 British Summer Time 26 July
Right, let's turn our attention to the first semi-final of the evening...