who proved he could not be intimidated by even the

Phil Taylors gamesmanship at 12-5 did little to rattle Michael van Gerwen, who proved he could not be intimidated by even the best players on planet darts, says Rod Harrington. The brilliant Dutchman retained his World Matchplay title with a ruthless 18-10 defeat of Taylor at Blackpools Winter Gardens on Sunday evening. MVG romps to Matchplay glory Michael van Gerwen beats Phil Taylor 18-10 in World Matchplay final Having lost out to Taylor two years ago, he followed up his 2015 success against James Wade by defeating the 15-time world champion with a clinical display. The defeat for Taylor was his first in a World Matchplay final, and not even his eccentric behaviour in the 18th leg could dampen a procession for the undisputed world No 1. Taylor hailed Van Gerwen the greatest player hes ever played against He is an exceptional darts player, Harrington told Sky Sports. Hes got everything in his locker and for a young man hes an intelligent guy. He knows what hes got to do and he had a game plan to get out of the gate quickly and bully Phil Taylor, and thats exactly what he did.He knew that if he got in front of Taylor and make Taylor chase him, then Phil would go back to the first three games this week and not the game against Gary Anderson. Wayne Mardle agreed with his fellow pundit and claimed Taylor was desperate to try anything to get back into a contest knowing all too well he was losing, but failed to rattle Van Gerwens cage. Taylor said him and the others are not good enough but if Phil believes hes got to do more and hes not good enough, hes lacking belief because he said it himself, thats a big thing, said Hawaii 501. Is he just handing it over? Is it, maybe Im not good enough anymore?My opinion of the 18th leg was if I dont do something, I dont create something, then maybe Im going to get beat 18-5. Sometimes [Taylor] likes to intimidate another human being, whether it being the scoreline or just being confrontational, I just think he was looking for something. Van Gerwen defeated Taylor 18-10 in the final To be honest, the next three or four legs were the best three of four legs he had in the match but Michael was just too good. Whatever he tried, it didnt work and it was one of those things.I personally think that Phil Taylor lost a bit of belief early on. He was 3-2 down, didnt lose it then. Then he went 6-4 down and didnt lose it then. He lost it in the third session that he lost 5-0. That was the change in the game. Michael went from strength to strength.Michael and Gary Anderson are the two best players on the planet, but dont rule out Taylor. He averaged 101 and got beat. I just think he got beat and annihilated by the better player. Taylor got the crowd hyped up with the Thunderclap during his match Harrington added: In every single sport thats played at a professional level theres always a little bit of gamesmanship whether it be to speed someone up, slow them down, do this or do that. Sometimes you need to take your opponent off his rhythm. He thought that little bit of checking might upset Michael, but what you must not forget with Michael is that hes like a train, he does not stop.When youre in that mindset, you cant be intimidated. You actually laugh at it and it encourages you more, so it turns against the opponent trying it against you. Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts.By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. 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Marshall Faulk Colts Jersey . -- Darrelle Revis says at least 26 teams called after he was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Afghanistan progressed to the Super 10s stage of the World T20 after Mohammad Nabi’s maiden half-century inspired them to a 59-run victory over Zimbabwe in a winner-takes-all showdown in Nagpur. Nabi (52 from 32) and Samiullah Shenwari (43 from 37) added 98 for the fifth wicket - Afghanistans second highest stand in T20Is, behind the 110 Mohammad Shahzad and Asghar Stanikzai put on against Scotland in Edinburgh last July - as the Asian side recovered from 63-4 to post 186-6.Seventeen-year-old spinner Rashid Khan (3-11) then impressed with the ball as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 127 in 19.4 overs to lose a fifth straight Twenty20 international against Afghanistan and exit the tournament.Afghanistan, though, now head into a Super 10s pool featuring England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka, with their opening match, against Sri Lanka, on Thursday.Shahzads 23-ball 40 helped Afghanistan race to 49-0 in the fifth over after winning the toss but the Associate nation began to wobble once Shahzad - who plundered 61 and 41 in the wins over Scotland and Hong Kong respectively - reverse swept straight to point.Stanikzai was caught at midwicket for a two-ball duck as Tinashe Panyangaras three-wicket burst ensured Afghanistan lost four for 14 in 20 deliveries, before Nabi and Shenwari firstly rebuilt and then accelerated as Stanikzais men amassed 88 from the last six overs.Shenwari was given a reprieve on 14 when his mow to deeep midwicket was adjudged by the third umpire to have bounced before it was caught by Malcolm Waller but he eventually holed out in the same region, with Nabi run out from the penultimate ball.ddddddddddddZimbabwes hopes of overhauling the highest total in this years first round were dented when captain Hamilton Masakadza (11) was bowled in the fourth over and Vusi Sibanda (13) was caught off a top-edge in the seventh.None of the African teams batsmen got to grips with the Afghanistan attack, emphasised by No 10 Panyangara top scoring with 17no from seven balls after hitting two huge - but ultimately futile - sixes over long-on.Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai: This was very important as the Afghanistan people are crazy about cricket. Shahzad started very well and then Nabi and Senwari had a very good partnership, which is important ahead of the next round.Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza: Afghanistan played a lot better than us, outplaying us in every facet. From the moment they started going in the powerplay we were always struggling but we didnt carry out our plans.Sky Sports Nick Knight: Afghanistan have been very impressive. They have talent, pace and spin but from 63-4 they also showed they have the ability to assess the game situation. Their bowling could really test the big nations.Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games in 27 days of the 2016 ICC World T20. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. ' ' '