Darts World Cup: Luke Littler and Luke Humphreys lead England to sixth world title

England won the Darts World Cup for a record-extending sixth time as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries beat the Netherlands 10-5 in Frankfurt.

The top seeds beat Wales and Scotland on Sunday to reach the best-of-19 final against second seeds Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen.

Littler and Humphries Last year’s shock exit from the second round to hosts Germany There were doubts over the partnership, but they averaged over 104 and finished 15 over 140+ to defeat the Dutch.

“I’m absolutely delighted – it’s the best we’ve played in all the tournaments,” Littler told Sky Sports.

“That’s what we needed to do. We can’t do it every game, it’s difficult. There were challenges but we got the job done.

“We didn’t do anything wrong last year, we just came up against a good team. This year we have to win together, not by ourselves.

“I’m proud of us – we won together.”

It was a tight contest between the world’s top four players from a steady start with throws until Littler got a double 10 in the break just before the first interval.

England held on after the break with Humphries scoring 87 to establish a three-leg lead at the break once more.

The Premier League champions and runners-up didn’t look like surrendering their lead from that point on – Littler hit tops to extend the advantage to 6-2 as England’s average climbed to 114, although Van Veen hit a timely top as the Dutch took a 14-dart leg.

Humphries recovered from a slight setback – he needed a failed set-up Littler and missed a bullseye for the break – hitting double four to put the two up 7-3 going into the second break.

The Dutch were handed a lifeline when Littler failed to make 78, with Van Gerwen showing similar composure to stick with the throw before giving Van Veen a 64 checkout to cut the deficit.

But they knew the game was over when, after hitting a remarkable 174, Van Gerwen blasted eight checkout attempts and England collapsed.

This left England needing 41 runs to win and Humphries took the world title – his second and Littler’s first of his career – with nine, 16 and a double eight.

“Michael (van Gerwen) was incredible tonight – he’s back and playing incredible darts,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“We knew we had to take our chances. You give Holland any hope and they take it away from you.

“We were a bit poor against Wales but we ran with our luck in that game.”