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Monday, May 18, 2009

Federer ends Nadal run in Madrid

World number two Roger Federer finally ended Rafael Nadal's superb run on clay to win the Madrid Open and take his first title of the year.The Swiss came through 6-4 6-4 in one hour 26 minutes for only his second win against Nadal in 11 attempts on clay.Nadal needed four hours to win an epic semi-final against Novak Djokovic on Saturday, and looked flat in the final.But Federer was clinical throughout until nervously fending off two break points when serving for the match.The defeat is only Nadal's fifth on clay in 155 matches since 2005, brings an end to his run of 33 consecutive victories on the surface, and takes the head-to-head record against Federer to 13-7 in the Spaniard's favour.

More than 1,000 militants killed in NW offensive

A military offensive to rid Pakistan's northwest of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters has killed more than 1,000 militants since it began in full force earlier this month, the country's interior ministry said Sunday.Officials also said that only 2 percent of the North West Frontier Province remains under Taliban control as a result of the operation.Both claims were difficult to verify independently.The government did not say whether the operation resulted in civilian casualties, or how many people it displaced.The United Nations said Saturday that more than a million people have been displaced as a result of the two-week-old offensive.The U.S-led coalition and NATO -- based in Afghanistan -- have long said Pakistan is not being proactive enough in battling militants who are launching attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along the border. Pakistan has denied the claim.But the country's military launched an intense operation to rout out militants from the area after Taliban fighters took control of a district just 60 miles from the capital, Islamabad.The control of the Buner district brought the Taliban closer to the capital of the nuclear-armed country than it had been since it mounted its insurgency.

Pak army aware of Taliban threat: Musharaff

Former president Pervez Musharaff on Sunday said Pakistan army was carrying out operation against Taliban as the political leadership considers their growing strength as threat to the country.In an interview to a US news channel, he said that besides the ongoing operation in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the military should keep a keen eyed on Indian border.He said that there was many threats to the life of Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto, saying that he had informed her of those threats.Musharaff mentioned that any bid to undermine Pakistan’s armed forces has a direct and detrimental effect on the war against terror. He termed the alleged ‘soft corner’ in Pak army for Taliban militants as biased saying “The army is well aware of the threat and nobody should dictate it.”He said there is an immediate need for the country to thwart the threats such as the growing political and martial strength of the Taliban.

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals

Delhi Daredevils won by 14 runs. That's it on a Super Sunday from everyone here. Hope you have enjoyed all the action. Tomorrow we have just a single game with Chennai taking on Kolkata. Until then this is Nishant alongwithMayank signing off.. Cheers! A rather comfortable victory for Delhi, something's that's been rare over the past few days. Rajasthan started poorly but Botha and Jadeja put on a good stand to keep them in hunt. They fell at crucial junctures and with Yusuf failing to fire, the Royals fell apart in quick time. JAI 136/9 (20.0 Ovs) | DEL 150/3 (20.0 Ovs)

Punjab’s exciting one-run win over Deccan

In an exciting finish, Kings XI Punjab stunned Deccan Chargers by one run victory off the last ball here on Sunday.Chasing 135, Deccan Chargers began their innings confidence when their openers captain Adam Gilchrist (23) and Herschelle Gibbs (26) provided a good start but later they were losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Deccan was looking to win the match when Rohit Sharma blasted 42 from 26 balls with three sixes and three fours and Andrew Symonds also contributed 23 and they needed 11 runs in the final over but due to Irfan Pathan’s intelligent bowling Deccan batsmen lost two wickets as they could not get the required runs and ultimately gave up the match by just one run.