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Results Based News

Button takes Sepang pole

Author: Craig Williams
Date: 04/04/2009

Betting favourite Jenson Button will start on from pole position for the second race in a row, having led the way in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

The Brawn GP driver edged out Toyota's Jarno Trulli by less than a tenth of a second, with row two comprised of Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock and Williams' Nico Rosberg.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, but has a ten-place grid penalty due to an incident in last weekend's Australian Grand Prix, while a gearbox change means that Rubens Barrichello drops five places after being fourth fastest in his Brawn.

Former world number one Roger Federer suffered a shock three-set defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Miami Masters.

Djokovic won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, with the normally passive Swiss Federer showing a rare flash of temper by smashing a racquet on the hard court as his form subsided.

He admitted afterwards: "Once one guy gets the upper hand, the other guy is a bit uncertain. It's tough, but he struggled big time in the first set.

"I finished worse than him. He played so bad in the first set, I made a great effort by finishing even worse than him.

"You try hard and then it's just not working. Once you start feeling bad, it's kind of tough to regroup."

Djokovic will now face Andy Murray in the final, with the Scot also needing three sets to see off Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, eventually running out a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victor.

England secured a 3-2 series victory with a 26-run win in a rain-affected fifth and final one-day international against West Indies.

In a match reduced to 29 overs in St Lucia, England had all-rounder Andrew Flintoff to thank for their triumph, with the all-rounder taking 5-19, including a hat-trick.

The tourists made 172-5 from their 29 overs, before Flintoff's heroics sealed a series win which ended a poor winter for England on a rare high note.

In Wellington India took total charge of the third and final Test against New Zealand.

The tourists were eventually bowled out for 379 in their first innings, before routing the Black Caps for 197, with left-arm quickie Zaheer Khan taking 5-65 and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh snaring 3-43.

India then reached 51-1 in their second innings by the close of play on day two and are closing in on a series win, as they hold a 1-0 advantage after the first two games of the series.

In rugby union's Magners League there were wins for rock-bottom Connacht, Edinburgh and the Ospreys.

Connacht ran in five tries in overpowering the Newport-Gwent Dragons 39-17, having trailed by seven points at the interval.

In the fourth round of rugby league's Carnegie Challenge Cup there were victories for Halifax, Hull KR, Sheffield, Rochdale and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

Ross McGowan holds a one-shot lead after two rounds at the Estoril Portuguese Open, with the Englishman five under par.

European Tour rookies Chris Doak of Scotland and Spain's Carlos Del Moral are one shot behind McGowan in tough, windy conditions at Cascais.

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