MVP Day 25: Andre Nel?

Andre Nel is at the top of the most valuable player (MVP) list after Day 25. As one of our readers remarked, this doesn't seem right. Quite honestly, we didn't expect a player to suddenly emerge out of the blue with a thundering Super Eight performance! Nel is however likely to have a fall after his second match against the West Indies tomorrow.

The real heroes of the 2007 World Cup are the players who have been consistently in the top 5 (see the chart at the end of this note): Hayden, Jayasuriya, Styris, Ponting, Smith, Kallis, Bond and others.

After his excellent century against Australia, Kevin Pietersen is now seventh on the MVP list. Hayden drops to the fourth place because he had a poorer-than-usual match against England.

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct \| St	Rc	Bb	W	Run Outs	M	Total	AVG
1	SA	Andre Nel	1	5	2	45	60	5	0	1	131.00	131.00
2	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	275	241	1	105	170	4	24	4	513.20	128.30
3	NZ	Scott Styris	167	203	2	103	162	7	0	3	376.20	125.40
4	Aus	Matthew Hayden	347	300	1				0	4	459.00	114.75
5	NZ	Jacob Oram	63	83	1	78	141	7	24	3	291.40	97.13
6	NZ	Shane Bond	0	0	0	65	172	7	0	3	240.60	80.20
7	Eng	Kevin Pietersen	270	341	1	2	6	0	12	4	287.00	71.75
8	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	49	89	2	130	217	8	0	4	272.40	68.10
9	SA	Jacques Kallis	232	295	3	137	144	2	0	4	269.20	67.30
10	SL	Lasith Malinga	2	9	1	165	182	11	12	4	258.40	64.60
11	Aus	Ricky Ponting	212	233	4				0	4	257.60	64.40
12	Eng	Paul Collingwood	137	161	3	152	168	3	24	4	238.60	59.65
13	SA	Graeme Smith	186	203	2	51	54	1	0	4	235.80	58.95
14	Aus	Nathan Bracken	0	0	1	118	192	8	0	4	232.60	58.15
15	NZ	Stephen Fleming	154	169	0				0	3	172.80	57.60
16	Aus	Michael Clarke	188	185	2	27	24	0	0	4	230.20	57.55
17	WI	Daren Powell	7	14	0	154	234	8	0	4	228.00	57.00
18	Aus	Glenn McGrath	0	0	0	160	177	10	0	4	221.60	55.40
19	SL	Muttiah Muralitharan	3	3	2	156	228	7	0	4	208.00	52.00
20	Aus	Adam Gilchrist	135	132	4 \| 2				0	4	204.40	51.10
21	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	196	275	1				24	4	201.00	50.25
22	SL	Tillakaratne Dilshan	102	104	1	48	84	1	24	4	193.00	48.25
23	SL	Dilhara Fernando	2	2	1	60	96	3	0	2	96.20	48.10
24	Ire	Trent Johnston	40	35	1	85	78	2	12	2	94.40	47.20
25	Eng	Liam Plunkett	29	34	0	43	42	1	0	1	45.40	45.40
26	SL	Chaminda Vaas	4	6	1	106	198	5	0	4	180.60	45.15
27	SL	Kumar Sangakkara	108	136	4 \| 4				12	4	179.20	44.80
28	Eng	Paul Nixon	111	106	3 \| 1				12	4	174.20	43.55
29	SA	Charles Langeveldt	10	47	1	219	222	9	12	4	174.00	43.50
30	Aus	Brad Hogg	5	6	1	173	210	7	0	4	173.20	43.30
31	Aus	Shaun Tait	0	0	0	173	189	8	0	4	170.20	42.55
32	SA	Andre Hall	8	13	0	130	159	5	0	3	122.80	40.93
33	WI	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	187	263	0				0	4	163.60	40.90
34	Aus	Shane Watson	47	35	1	81	100	1	24	3	118.00	39.33
35	WI	Brian Lara	116	136	2				24	4	157.20	39.30
36	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	110	144	5				24	4	153.80	38.45
37	Ire	Andrew White	86	94	2	29	31	0	12	3	114.60	38.20
38	Ban	Syed Rasel	10	19	1	121	162	4	0	3	114.40	38.13
39	Ban	Mohammad Ashraful	141	162	0	7	2	0	0	4	147.00	36.75
40	Eng	Ian Bell	160	254	1				24	4	145.80	36.45
41	Eng	Sajid Mahmood	2	4	0	144	158	4	24	3	103.20	34.40
42	NZ	Hamish Marshall	65	77	0				0	2	68.40	34.20
43	SA	AB De Villiers	107	117	3				0	4	135.40	33.85
44	Ire	Boyd Rankin	4	8	0	92	114	4	0	3	96.80	32.27
45	WI	Dwayne Bravo	48	64	0	175	174	5	0	4	129.00	32.25
46	Eng	Ravinder Bopara	83	94	1				0	3	95.80	31.93
47	Ire	Kyle McCallan	28	36	0	100	150	2	0	3	95.20	31.73
48	Ire	Niall O'Brien	99	144	2 \| 0				0	3	92.80	30.93
49	WI	Denesh Ramdin	69	70	7 \| 0				0	4	117.00	29.25
50	NZ	Daniel Vettori	0	0	0	126	174	3	0	3	85.20	28.40
51	SA	Shaun Pollock	37	54	0	171	210	2	36	4	111.80	27.95
52	SA	Makhaya Ntini	15	20	1	169	204	4	0	4	109.20	27.30
53	Ban	Aftab Ahmed	85	105	2	1	1	0	12	4	107.80	26.95
54	WI	Chris Gayle	74	114	1	147	176	2	0	4	103.60	25.90
55	Ban	Mohammad Rafique	40	60	1	128	168	2	12	4	103.40	25.85
56	WI	Ramnaresh Sarwan	128	224	1	22	24	1	0	4	103.00	25.75
57	SL	Russel Arnold	79	104	0	26	37	1	0	4	102.40	25.60
58	SL	Chamara Silva	108	143	0				0	4	101.60	25.40
59	WI	Ian Bradshaw	6	17	0	94	114	2	0	2	43.60	21.80
60	SL	Upul Tharanga	108	177	2				0	4	84.40	21.10
61	Aus	Andrew Symonds	59	31	1	107	86	1	0	4	84.00	21.00
62	Ban	Tamim Iqbal	76	134	3				24	4	83.80	20.95
63	SA	Ashwell Prince	49	54	1				0	3	59.80	19.93
64	Ire	Dave Langford-Smith	26	19	0	102	126	1	0	3	59.60	19.87
65	Eng	Monty Panesar	1	2	0	171	222	3	0	4	79.00	19.75
66	Eng	James Anderson	0	1	0	162	210	3	0	4	77.20	19.30
67	WI	Marlon Samuels	43	62	1	81	84	1	24	4	75.60	18.90
68	NZ	Brendon McCullum	0	0	9 \| 1				0	3	55.00	18.33
69	Ban	Saqibul Hasan	63	124	1	145	143	3	0	4	73.20	18.30
70	Ire	Andre Botha	60	115	0	109	132	1	0	3	48.60	16.20
71	NZ	Craig McMillan	60	91	0	6	9	0	0	3	48.40	16.13
72	Ban	Abdur Razzak	2	6	0	164	166	4	0	4	64.00	16.00
73	SL	Farveez Maharoof	5	9	1	67	84	1	0	2	32.00	16.00
74	SA	Mark Boucher	34	53	5 \| 0				12	4	62.60	15.65
75	Ire	Kevin O'Brien	29	65	1	39	42	1	0	2	29.60	14.80
76	NZ	James Franklin	0	0	1	99	108	2	0	3	40.40	13.47
77	WI	Jerome Taylor	23	27	0	136	156	1	0	3	37.20	12.40
78	WI	Lendl Simmons	14	26	1				0	1	12.20	12.20
79	Eng	Michael Vaughan	37	76	0	48	72	1	0	4	46.80	11.70
80	Aus	Brad Hodge	0	0	2				0	1	10.00	10.00
81	Ban	Mashrafe Mortaza	59	63	1	172	174	0	0	4	39.80	9.95
82	Ire	Eoin Morgan	48	91	1				0	3	28.20	9.40
83	NZ	Michael Mason	0	0	0	18	45	0	0	2	18.00	9.00
84	Eng	Andrew Strauss	7	10	0				0	1	6.00	6.00
85	Ire	William Porterfield	45	103	2				0	3	17.60	5.87
86	Ire	Jeremy Bray	41	82	0				0	3	16.40	5.47
87	Aus	Michael Hussey	14	21	2				0	4	21.20	5.30
88	Eng	Ed Joyce	11	28	3				0	3	14.60	4.87
89	Ban	Habibul Bashar	56	125	1				0	4	17.00	4.25
90	SA	Robin Petersen	4	8	0	22	30	0	0	1	3.60	3.60
91	WI	Dwayne Smith	17	15	0	47	48	0	0	4	13.40	3.35
92	NZ	Peter Fulton	15	32	0				0	2	4.40	2.20
93	Ban	Javed Omar	39	92	0				0	2	4.40	2.20
94	SA	Justin Kemp	13	51	2	27	24	0	12	4	-0.60	-0.15
95	NZ	Ross Taylor	0	1	0				0	1	-0.80	-0.80
96	Ban	Shahriar Nafees	1	7	0				0	2	-3.60	-1.80
97	NZ	Jeetan Patel	0	0	0	42	48	0	0	1	-3.60	-3.60
98	Ban	Mushfiqur Rahim	14	54	0 \| 0				0	4	-15.20	-3.80
99	NZ	Lou Vincent	0	6	0				0	1	-4.80	-4.80
100	WI	Corey Collymore	1	7	0	99	114	0	0	2	-11.40	-5.70
101	Eng	Jamie Dalrymple	3	12	1	29	24	0	0	1	-8.40	-8.40
102	Ire	John Mooney	0	2	0	62	45	0	0	2	-27.60	-13.80
103	Ban	Tapash Baisya	0	0	0	35	17	0	0	1	-21.40	-21.40

The disappointing performers so far at this World Cup have been Vettori (50), Pollock (51), Ntini (52), Gayle (54), Symonds (61; although commentators love to praise him!), Boucher (74), Vaughan (79), Strauss (84), Hussey (87) and Kemp (94).

The Chernoff gallery of the top nine Super Eight players after Day 25 appears below.

Recall that batsmen have round faces and a short and wide nose. They smile more when they score more runs (see "Jayasuriya" and "Hayden"). Bowlers have tapered faces, big ears and a tall and thin nose (see "Oram"). Bowlers have bigger ears if they take more wickets (see "Malinga" in the illustration below).

Every player can have only one "face". All-rounders ("Jayasuriya" or "Styris") have both batsmen's and bowler's features.

Here are the faces of the nine highest scoring batsmen in the Super Eight (total runs / scoring rate). If two players have scored the same number of runs, the player with the higher points appears first.

Here are the faces of the nine highest wicket-taking bowlers in the Super Eight (wickets / no. of runs conceded per over). If two players have scored the same number of wickets, the player with the higher points appears first.

And, finally, here are the faces of the nine most successful fielders in the Super Eight (fielding points | run outs / catches / stumpings. Fielders who take a lot of catches have wide eyebrows (see "McCullum"), and those that participate in run out dismissals have bigger eyes (see "Pollock"). Notice the large number of wicket-keepers in this list.

We end off by looking at the most consistent World Cup 2007 performances. Scott Styris, who is placed third today, has figured in the MVP top five for 19 of the first 24 days! Hayden, Jayasuriya and Oram, who figure in the top 5 for 10 of the first 24 days, are the other consistent performers. See the full list below (number in bracket is today's rank).

What is MVP?

MVP Day 24: Nel jumps to second

This list, the Chernoff faces and other charts have been prepared by my colleagues Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar of Cranes Software International Limited using the SYSTAT software.