Australian Geordie Paul Nicholson produced a stirring array of finishing to knock out sixth seed Adrian Lewis in a pulsating second-round encounter at the Alexandra Palace.

Nicholson triumphed 6-4 in the deciding set to emerge with a 4-3 victory after a titanic struggle with 'Jackpot' Lewis that swung one way and another and was within a leg of going all the way to sudden death.

Both players produced darts right out of the top drawer, with finishes of 110 from Nicholson and 124 from Lewis as they shared the spoils through six sets.

Aussie number one Nicholson pulled out all the stops at the start of the decider, nailing 101 and a sparkling 121 on the Bull to go to the hill, but he just missed a 109 outshot by the width of a wire to give Lewis a hope.

Lewis hung on by the skin of his teeth to level at 2-2, and neither man could break away as it remained locked at 4-4 with each leg creating more drama for the breathless crowd.

It would take something special to win it, and Nicholson provided it as he hit a 129 to hold his own throw and nudge ahead again, before a mind-boggling 121 finish on the Bull completed the upset.

Nicholson will face Dennis Priestley next after he won the battle of the veterans with John MaGowan.

Priestley, despite having trouble with the stems on his darts, was always on top against MaGowan and easily sealed a 4-1 victory.

Vincent van der Voort was on fire as he raced past Colin Osborne with a 4-1 win sending him into round three, courtesy of ten 180s and a 98 average.

Osborne took the opening set but could not get a look in after that as, along with hefty scoring, van der Voort took out shots like 125 and 121 to really stick the knife in and make it four Dutch players in the last 16.