MVP Day 27: Jayasuriya back at the top

With figures of 10-0-45-1 against West Indies, Andre Nel dropped to the sixth place in the most valuable player (MVP) list after Day 27. Sanath Jayasuriya regained his top position.

Jacques Kallis advanced to the fifth place with 81 in 86 balls and figures of 8-0-36-2. A B de Villiers too jumped up by 34 places to be placed tenth after his brilliant innings of 146 in 130 balls. Graeme Smith has dropped to No. 21 after another batting failure and an exceptionally generous bowling spell with figures of 5-0-56-2.

For West Indies it was another disappointing day. The highest ranked West Indian is now Daren Powell at No. 17. Sarwan is at 34, Lara at 43, Chanderpaul at 45 and Gayle at 51!

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct\| St	Rc	Bb	W	Run Out	M	Total	AVG
1	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	275	241	1	105	170	4	1	4	513.2	128.3
2	Aus	Matthew Hayden	347	300	1					4	459	114.75
3	NZ	Scott Styris	177	218	3	119	180	7	0.5	4	399.6	99.9
4	NZ	Jacob Oram	83	131	2	93	177	8	1	4	335.8	83.95
5	SA	Jacques Kallis	313	381	3	173	192	4		5	412.8	82.56
6	SA	Andre Nel	1	5	2	99	120	6		2	149	74.5
7	NZ	Shane Bond			0	83	202	9		4	294.6	73.65
8	Eng	Kevin Pietersen	270	341	1	2	6	0	0.5	4	287	71.75
9	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	49	89	2	130	217	8		4	272.4	68.1
10	SA	AB De Villiers	253	247	4					5	328.4	65.68
11	SL	Lasith Malinga	2	9	1	165	182	11	0.5	4	258.4	64.6
12	Aus	Ricky Ponting	212	233	4					4	257.6	64.4
13	Eng	Paul Collingwood	137	161	3	152	168	3	1	4	238.6	59.65
14	Aus	Nathan Bracken			1	118	192	8		4	232.6	58.15
15	Aus	Michael Clarke	188	185	2	27	24	0		4	230.2	57.55
16	Aus	Glenn McGrath			0	160	177	10		4	221.6	55.4
17	WI	Daren Powell	55	50	0	232	294	8		5	265.2	53.04
18	SL	Muttiah Muralitharan	3	3	2	156	228	7		4	208	52
19	Aus	Adam Gilchrist (wk)	135	132	4\| 2					4	204.4	51.1
20	NZ	Daniel Vettori	5	7	0	149	226	7		4	204.2	51.05
21	SA	Graeme Smith	193	225	3	107	84	3		5	253.2	50.64
22	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	196	275	1				1	4	201	50.25
23	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	171	184	6				1	5	248.8	49.76
24	SL	Tillakaratne Dilshan	102	104	1	48	84	1	1	4	193	48.25
25	SL	Dilhara Fernando	2	2	1	60	96	3		2	96.2	48.1
26	NZ	Stephen Fleming	164	180	0					4	184	46
27	Eng	Liam Plunkett	29	34	0	43	42	1		1	45.4	45.4
28	SL	Chaminda Vaas	4	6	1	106	198	5		4	180.6	45.15
29	SL	Kumar Sangakkara (wk)	108	136	4\| 4				0.5	4	179.2	44.8
30	WI	Devon Smith	33	27	0					1	44.4	44.4
31	Eng	Paul Nixon (wk)	111	106	3\| 1				0.5	4	174.2	43.55
32	SA	Charles Langeveldt	10	47	1	219	222	9	0.5	4	174	43.5
33	Aus	Brad Hogg	5	6	1	173	210	7		4	173.2	43.3
34	WI	Ramnaresh Sarwan	220	299	1	52	48	1		5	216.2	43.24
35	Aus	Shaun Tait			0	173	189	8		4	170.2	42.55
36	Ire	Andrew White	86	98	2	74	91	2	0.5	4	162.4	40.6
37	Ire	Trent Johnston	53	54	2	148	138	3	0.5	3	119.2	39.733
38	Aus	Shane Watson	47	35	1	81	100	1	1	3	118	39.333
39	Ban	Syed Rasel	10	19	1	121	162	4		3	114.4	38.133
40	Ire	Kyle McCallan	28	44	0	135	210	4		4	149.8	37.45
41	Ban	Mohammad Ashraful	141	162	0	7	2	0		4	147	36.75
42	Eng	Ian Bell	160	254	1				1	4	145.8	36.45
43	WI	Brian Lara	137	162	2				1	5	178.4	35.68
44	Eng	Sajid Mahmood	2	4	0	144	158	4	1	3	103.2	34.4
45	WI	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	191	270	1					5	171	34.2
46	SA	Shaun Pollock	37	54	1	204	258	4	1.5	5	170.2	34.04
47	NZ	Brendon McCullum (wk)	47	37	11\| 1					4	129.4	32.35
48	Eng	Ravinder Bopara	83	94	1					3	95.8	31.933
49	NZ	Hamish Marshall	81	98	0				0.5	3	95.6	31.867
50	SA	Andre Hall	8	13	1	179	213	5		4	122	30.5
51	WI	Chris Gayle	106	149	1	189	212	3		5	150.4	30.08
52	SA	Mark Boucher (wk)	86	76	5\| 0				0.5	5	148.2	29.64
53	Ire	Dave Langford-Smith	26	23	0	143	186	3		4	111.4	27.85
54	NZ	Peter Fulton	98	142	0					3	82.4	27.467
55	Ire	Kevin O'Brien	78	110	1	59	54	1		3	81.2	27.067
56	Ban	Aftab Ahmed	85	105	2	1	1	0	0.5	4	107.8	26.95
57	Ban	Mohammad Rafique	40	60	1	128	168	2	0.5	4	103.4	25.85
58	Ire	Boyd Rankin	4	9	0	147	162	5		4	103.4	25.85
59	Ire	Niall O'Brien (wk)	129	219	4\| 0					4	102.8	25.7
60	SL	Russel Arnold	79	104	0	26	37	1		4	102.4	25.6
61	NZ	James Franklin	34	22	1	126	156	2		4	102.2	25.55
62	SL	Chamara Silva	108	143	0					4	101.6	25.4
63	WI	Dwayne Bravo	54	75	1	244	216	6		5	125.8	25.16
64	SA	Makhaya Ntini	15	20	1	226	264	5		5	124.2	24.84
65	WI	Denesh Ramdin (wk)	73	79	8\| 0					5	122.8	24.56
66	NZ	Jeetan Patel			0	74	90	2		2	46	23
67	SL	Upul Tharanga	108	177	2					4	84.4	21.1
68	Aus	Andrew Symonds	59	31	1	107	86	1		4	84	21
69	Ban	Tamim Iqbal	76	134	3				1	4	83.8	20.95
70	SA	Ashwell Prince	49	54	1				1	4	83.8	20.95
71	Eng	Monty Panesar	1	2	0	171	222	3		4	79	19.75
72	Ban	Abdur Razzak	2	6	0	164	184	4		4	78.4	19.6
73	WI	Corey Collymore	13	19	0	140	174	2		3	58	19.333
74	Eng	James Anderson	0	1	0	162	210	3		4	77.2	19.3
75	WI	Marlon Samuels	43	62	1	81	84	1	1	4	75.6	18.9
76	Ban	Saqibul Hasan	63	124	1	145	143	3		4	73.2	18.3
77	NZ	Craig McMillan	82	120	0	6	9	0		4	69.2	17.3
78	Ire	Andre Botha	60	115	0	109	132	1		3	48.6	16.2
79	SL	Farveez Maharoof	5	9	1	67	84	1		2	32	16
80	WI	Jerome Taylor	23	27	0	136	156	1		3	37.2	12.4
81	WI	Lendl Simmons	14	26	1					1	12.2	12.2
82	Eng	Michael Vaughan	37	76	0	48	72	1		4	46.8	11.7
83	Ire	Eoin Morgan	63	128	4					4	43.6	10.9
84	Aus	Brad Hodge			2					1	10	10
85	Ban	Mashrafe Mortaza	59	63	1	172	174	0		4	39.8	9.95
86	NZ	Michael Mason			0	18	45	0		2	18	9
87	SA	Robin Petersen	4	8	1	22	30	0		1	8.6	8.6
88	WI	Ian Bradshaw	26	62	0	167	174	2		3	22.6	7.5333
89	Ire	William Porterfield	56	125	3					4	27	6.75
90	Eng	Andrew Strauss	7	10	0					1	6	6
91	Aus	Michael Hussey	14	21	2					4	21.2	5.3
92	Eng	Ed Joyce	11	28	3					3	14.6	4.8667
93	Ban	Habibul Bashar	56	125	1					4	17	4.25
94	Ire	Jeremy Bray	42	87	0					4	14.4	3.6
95	WI	Dwayne Smith	17	15	0	47	48	0		4	13.4	3.35
96	Ban	Javed Omar	39	92	0					2	4.4	2.2
97	WI	Kieron Pollard	10	17	0	20	18	0		1	0.8	0.8
98	SA	Loots Bosman			0					1	0	0
99	SA	Justin Kemp	13	51	2	27	24	0	0.5	4	-0.6	-0.15
100	NZ	Ross Taylor	0	1	0					1	-0.8	-0.8
101	Ban	Shahriar Nafees	1	7	0					2	-3.6	-1.8
102	Ire	Peter Gillespie	2	8	0					1	-2.4	-2.4
103	Ire	John Mooney	0	1	0	22	24	0		1	-3.6	-3.6
104	Ban	Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)	14	54	0\| 0					4	-15.2	-3.8
105	NZ	Lou Vincent	0	6	0					1	-4.8	-4.8
106	Eng	Jamie Dalrymple	3	12	1	29	24	0		1	-8.4	-8.4
107	Ban	Tapash Baisya			0	35	17	0		1	-21.4	-21.4
108	Ire	Paul Mooney	0	1	0	40	21	0		1	-24	-24

The Chernoff gallery of the top nine Super Eight players after Day 27 appears below.

Recall that batsmen have round faces and a short and wide nose. They smile more when they score more runs. Bowlers have tapered faces, a tall and thin nose, and bigger ears if they take more wickets. All-rounders 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, and those that participate in run out dismissals have bigger eyes. Notice the large number of wicket-keepers in this list.

Finally, here is the average "value" contribution of each player in the Super Eight teams. Notice that, on the average, an Australian player contributes about 50 points to his team: if he is a pure batsman he contributes about 50 runs, if he's a pure bowler he contributes an equivalent of two wickets.

If we assume that the four teams with the highest average player "contribution" will make it to the semi-final, we are looking at the following semi-finalists: Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa... something that the World Cup's Super Eight points table too has all but confirmed.

What is MVP?

MVP Day 26: Andre Nel's big day

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.