MVP countdown: Hayden is now the favourite

After his 100-ball 103 against New Zealand in the Super Eights match of the 2007 World Cup on Friday, Matthew Hayden has stormed to the top of the MVP list.

He has been there before, but he fell off a bit because he didn't get enough batting opportunities in the later matches.

Hayden must now be the MVP favourite, especially if Australia makes it to the final.

Scott Styris is less than 10 points behind, and should have been on top today if he hadn't given away his wicket after scoring a fluent 27 in 22 balls. He too is a strong contender especially if New Zealand reaches the final.

Sanath Jayasuriya has fallen behind after a couple of batting failures; but if he gets a quick 50 against New Zealand and picks up 2 or 3 wickets, he will again become a very hot pick.

Australians Ricky Ponting (6), Bradd Hogg (7) and Glenn McGrath (8) are going up while Kiwis Jacob Oram (11), Shane Bond (17), Daniel Vettori (18) and Stephen Fleming (25) are dropping off because of injury, "resting" or non-performance.

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct \| St	Rc	Bb	W	Run Outs	M	Total
1	Aus	Matthew Hayden	580	537	6				0.5	9	772.4
2	NZ	Scott Styris	462	560	5	234	336	9	0.5	9	763.8
3	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	403	402	3	212	320	5	1.5	9	699.4
4	SA	Jacques Kallis	480	569	3	251	336	5	0.5	9	669.6
5	SA	Graeme Smith	441	419	7	152	150	4	0.5	9	657.8
6	Aus	Ricky Ponting	480	498	6					9	591.6
7	Aus	Brad Hogg	45	21	3	289	419	19		9	590.4
8	Aus	Glenn McGrath			1	297	381	22	0.5	9	552.8
9	SL	Muttiah Muralitharan	3	3	4	276	418	19		8	538
10	SA	AB De Villiers	357	335	5				2	9	519
11	NZ	Jacob Oram	162	227	5	192	315	9	1.5	8	479.4
12	Aus	Michael Clarke	368	367	4	63	72	0	0.5	9	469
13	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	414	516	3				1	9	454.2
14	WI	Daren Powell	56	51	1	327	450	14		8	445.2
15	Aus	Shaun Tait			1	386	411	19	1.5	9	439.8
16	Aus	Adam Gilchrist (wk)	303	327	6\| 4				1	9	438.4
17	NZ	Shane Bond			3	154	358	12		7	435.4
18	NZ	Daniel Vettori	28	25	2	396	526	15		9	430.8
19	Eng	Paul Collingwood	270	357	6	252	300	5	1.5	8	428.4
20	SA	Andrew Hall	25	30	2	292	417	14	0.5	8	425.6
21	SL	Chaminda Vaas	23	18	3	207	370	12		8	423.6
22	Aus	Nathan Bracken			2	209	352	14		8	418.6
23	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	77	120	3	239	355	12		7	406
24	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	303	324	7				1	9	405.8
25	NZ	Stephen Fleming	352	405	1					9	385
26	WI	Dwayne Bravo	116	147	4	314	330	11	1.5	8	384.4
27	WI	Ramnaresh Sarwan	372	473	1	52	48	1		8	381
28	SL	Lasith Malinga	2	9	2	214	260	15	0.5	6	372.8
29	Ire	Trent Johnston	129	144	5	258	302	8	1	8	367.4
30	SL	Kumar Sangakkara (wk)	278	371	11\| 4				0.5	9	366.2
31	SA	Shaun Pollock	58	80	2	280	474	7	1.5	9	365.2
32	Eng	Kevin Pietersen	344	457	2	2	6	0	0.5	8	347.2
33	Ban	Abdur Razzak	29	54	2	344	442	13		9	346.4
34	SL	Tillakaratne Dilshan	173	196	3	113	181	3	1	9	332
35	Ban	Mashrafe Mortaza	109	160	1	323	428	9		9	330.4
36	SA	Mark Boucher (wk)	177	128	9\| 0				1	9	320.6
37	Aus	Shane Watson	142	82	2	119	172	2	1	6	319
38	Ire	Kyle McCallan	33	75		233	352	10	1	9	318.6
39	SL	Chamara Silva	309	397	3					9	315.4
40	SL	Farveez Maharoof	39	36	2	198	264	9	1	6	312.4
41	NZ	James Franklin	65	58	2	285	338	9	0.5	8	307
42	SA	Andre Nel	1	5	2	186	272	11		5	303.6
43	WI	Brian Lara	251	313	5				1	8	300.6
44	Ban	Saqibul Hasan	202	353	1	302	365	7	0.5	9	296.6
45	Ire	Langford-Smith	67	72	3	291	396	7		9	285.2
46	Ban	Mohammad Rafique	42	78	3	302	432	8	0.5	9	284.2
47	Eng	Paul Nixon (wk)	155	155	6\| 2				2	8	284
48	NZ	Craig McMillan	203	241		110	135	3		9	283.2
49	Ind	Virender Sehwag	164	139		32	60	2		3	280.8
50	Ken	Steve Tikolo	155	189	5	97	114	4		3	274
51	SA	Charles Langeveldt	10	47	1	327	360	13	0.5	7	272.4
52	WI	Chris Gayle	149	214	2	249	325	5		8	267.8
53	Aus	Brad Hodge	152	117	4	17	36	1		5	266.2
54	Ban	Syed Rasel	16	34	1	239	372	8		7	260.4
55	Ire	Boyd Rankin	15	45	1	324	356	12		9	247.8
56	Pak	Imran Nazir	190	175	1					3	245
57	NZ	Brendon McCullum (wk)	117	86	13\| 1					9	240.2
58	NZ	Peter Fulton	251	347	1					7	229.4
59	Aus	Andrew Symonds	148	127	3	129	122	2		7	226
60	Zim	Elton Chigumbura	61	49	1	116	136	6		3	224.6
61	Ire	Andre Botha	62	131	1	181	294	5	1	7	222.4
62	Ire	Andrew White	128	173	2	89	109	3	1	8	221.8
63	Eng	Ravinder Bopara	139	172	1	56	72	2	1	7	219
64	Eng	James Anderson	0	7		291	402	8		8	217
65	Ban	Mohammad Ashraful	216	267		7	2	0		9	213
66	Pak	Iftikhar Anjum	51	77		73	120	5	1	3	207.4
67	NZ	Jeetan Patel	0	1	1	183	266	7		5	202
68	Ire	Niall O'Brien (wk)	216	374	9\| 0				1	9	201.8
69	SL	Russel Arnold	103	128	2	46	61	3	0.5	9	200.4
70	WI	Corey Collymore	21	21		207	320	5		6	194.2
71	Ire	Kevin O'Brien	170	263	1	100	108	3		8	193
72	WI	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	281	478	2					8	189.6
73	WI	Marlon Samuels	165	246	2	129	144	1	1.5	7	189.4
74	Ban	Aftab Ahmed	128	151	6	38	31	1	0.5	9	188
75	Eng	Sajid Mahmood	2	5		259	288	8	1	6	187.4
76	Eng	Monty Panesar	3	30		283	384	7	0.5	8	186.2
77	Ind	Yuvraj Singh	136	116		15	18	0		3	178.6
78	Ban	Tamim Iqbal	172	275	6				1	9	178
79	Eng	Ian Bell	211	349	2				1	8	176.8
80	Can	Sunil Dhaniram	81	87	1	147	162	4		3	176
81	SA	Makhaya Ntini	15	20	1	293	378	6		7	172.4
82	NZ	Lou Vincent	101	127					3	3	172.4
83	WI	Dwayne Smith	49	30		111	138	4		6	169.4
84	Can	John Davison	81	75	2	130	174	2		3	169.2
85	SA	Ashwell Prince	107	134	2				2	8	164.8
86	Ire	Jeremy Bray	212	338	2					9	163.6
87	Zim	Sean Williams	95	110	1	79	90	2	0.5	3	160
88	SL	Upul Tharanga	219	364	2					9	156.8
89	Ind	Zaheer Khan	16	22		122	174	5		3	151.6
90	Ind	Munaf Patel	25	32	1	105	159	4		3	147.6
91	WI	Denesh Ramdin (wk)	74	83	13\| 0					8	146.6
92	Pak	Umar Gul	11	20	1	72	138	4		3	145.4
93	Eng	Ed Joyce	152	221	3					5	142.2
94	Eng	Michael Vaughan	130	241	1	48	72	1	1.5	8	141.8
95	NL	Ryan ten Doeschate	128	148	2	151	120	2		3	140.6
96	WI	Jerome Taylor	25	31		241	324	4		6	139.4
97	Ken	Thomas Odoyo	46	78		114	144	4	0.5	3	138.8
98	Ind	Sachin Tendulkar	64	58		49	72	2		3	138.2
99	Ind	Sourav Ganguly	162	266		22	24	1		3	132.4
100	Pak	Mohammad Sami	17	44		44	90	4		2	122.8
101	Ind	Ajit Agarkar	10	27	1	112	168	4		3	121.8
102	NL	William Stelling	1	4	1	55	96	4		2	121.6
103	Zim	Stuart Matsikenyeri	107	128	2	6	6	0		3	120.4
104	Zim	Gary Brent	12	21	1	108	120	5		2	120.2
105	Ber	Saleem Mukuddem	0	4		69	90	5		2	119.8
106	Pak	Shoaib Malik	92	111	1	33	30	1		3	115.2
107	SL	Dilhara Fernando	2	2	1	159	212	4		5	114
108	Ban	Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)	131	273	3\| 0				2	9	106.6
109	Aus	Michael Hussey	87	116	5					9	106.2
110	NZ	Hamish Marshall	81	98	1				0.5	3	100.6
111	Pak	Shahid Afridi	16	10		20	24	3		1	95.2
112	NZ	Ross Taylor	98	133	1					5	94.6
113	Pak	Mohammad Hafeez	15	34	2	54	78	3		2	93.2
114	Eng	Liam Plunkett	29	34		89	96	3		2	90.6
115	Can	Ashif Mulla	83	101	1					3	90.2
116	Zim	Christopher Mpofu	1	10		166	174	4	1	3	87.2
117	Pak	Inzamam ul-Haq	74	103	4					3	85.6
118	Can	Ian Billcliff	104	160	1					3	85
119	Ken	Maurice Ouma	75	155					2	3	84
120	Pak	Kamran Akmal	42	74	3				1	3	83.8
121	Scot	Colin Smith	85	129	1					3	81.8
122	Ind	Mahendra Dhoni	29	29	5					3	79.8
123	Ind	Anil Kumble				38	55	3		1	78
124	Ken	Jimmy Kamande	29	43		110	144	2		3	76.8
125	NZ	Michael Mason	0	5	2	134	165	3		5	76
126	Zim	Vusumuzi Sibanda	68	95	3					3	75
127	NL	Tim de Leede	35	58	1	112	108	3		3	75
128	Ire	Eoin Morgan	91	179	7					9	73.8
129	Zim	Brendan Taylor	87	178	4				0.5	3	73.6
130	Can	Geoff Barnett	88	129						3	72.8
131	Ind	Rahul Dravid	81	112						3	72.4
132	Eng	Andrew Strauss	76	114	2					3	70.8
133	SA	Justin Kemp	25	58	3	61	66	2	0.5	7	70.4
134	Scot	Majid Haq	35	70		121	101	4		3	69.8
135	Ire	William Porterfield	172	379	5					9	65.8
136	Ken	Peter Ongondo	7	24	1	146	144	4		3	65
137	Ken	Ravindu Shah	81	126						3	61.2
138	Ber	David Hemp	90	127	1	32	12	0		3	61
139	Ber	Dean Minors	48	64	1					3	59.8
140	NL	Mohammad Kashif			1	29	42	2		1	57.6
141	Ber	Kevin Hurdle	6	11	2	139	138	3		3	56.6
142	Scot	John Blain	41	63		90	78	2		3	52
143	Scot	Glenn Rogers	32	49	1	114	110	2		3	51.8
144	Ban	Habibul Bashar	105	229	5					9	51.8
145	Pak	Younis Khan	37	47	3	5	6	0		3	51.2
146	Pak	Danish Kaneria	6	4		93	78	3		2	50.2
147	Ken	Collins Obuya	31	44	1	8	18	0	0.5	3	50.2
148	Ber	Lionel Cann	44	40		88	72	1		3	49.6
149	NL	Darron Reekers	38	33		106	102	1		3	49.2
150	Can	Abdool Samad	60	113	1	85	64	2		3	48.8
151	Ken	Tanmay Mishra	37	61	2				0.5	3	47.2
152	Zim	Tawanda Mupariwa	0	3		91	114	2		2	45.8
153	Ken	Hiren Varaiya	5	23	1	98	138	1	0.5	3	45
154	WI	Devon Smith	38	39						2	44.8
155	Pak	Mohammad Yousuf	55	113		0	1	1		3	44.4
156	Aus	Stuart Clark				19	48	1		1	43.4
157	NL	Mark Jonkman	0	2		57	67	2		2	43
158	Scot	Paul Hoffmann	25	19	1	104	102	1		3	41.4
159	Can	Ashish Bagai	62	123	3					3	40.6
160	Can	Kevin Sandher	2	6		58	60	2		1	37.2
161	SA	Robin Petersen	12	16	1	61	72	1		2	36.8
162	SL	Malinga Bandara	17	19		53	58	1		1	36.2
163	NL	Daan van Bunge	38	49	2	60	31	1		3	35.6
164	Zim	Prosper Utseya	5	8	1	101	156	0		3	32.4
165	NL	Peter Borren	26	24	1	141	108	2		3	31.2
166	Can	Anderson Cummins	10	11		149	150	2		3	30.2
167	NL	Bas Zuiderent	53	95						3	30
168	Ind	Harbhajan Singh	17	23		83	120	0		2	28.6
169	Ind	Robin Uthappa	30	48	1					3	26.6
170	SL	Nuwan Kulasekara	1	5	1	30	66	0		2	25.8
171	Zim	Anthony Ireland			1	38	42	1		1	24.6
172	WI	Ian Bradshaw	26	62		167	174	2		3	22.6
173	NL	Jeroen Smits	3	12	3					3	21.4
174	Scot	Dougie Brown	64	102	1	126	90	1		3	21.4
175	Scot	Ryan Watson	53	107						3	20.4
176	Can	Umar Bhatti	11	30		110	134	1		3	19.2
177	Zim	Edward Rainsford	1	1		44	42	1		1	14.8
178	Can	George Codrington	7	8	1	70	60	1		1	14.6
179	NL	Eric Szwarczynski	24	42						2	14.4
180	Can	Desmond Chumney	27	51						1	13.2
181	WI	Lendl Simmons	14	26	1					1	12.2
182	Scot	Fraser Watts	33	69						2	10.8
183	Scot	Craig Wright	5	28	1	75	84	1		2	8.8
184	Ber	Delyone Borden	21	74		72	60	2		3	6.8
185	Zim	Terry Duffin	12	22						1	6.4
186	Ban	Shahriar Nafees	31	76	1					6	6.2
187	Ken	Tony Suji	14	29		15	18	0		1	4.2
188	Scot	Neil McCallum	25	64	1					2	3.8
189	Ire	John Mooney	23	45	1	36	30	0		2	3
190	Ban	Shahadat Hossain	0	2		51	54	0	0.5	1	2.6
191	Zim	Chamu Chibhabha	27	69	2	11	6	0		3	2.6
192	Ban	Javed Omar	55	141	1					3	2.2
193	Ber	Steven Outerbridge	9	20						2	2
194	WI	Kieron Pollard	10	17		20	18	0		1	0.8
195	Ire	Kenneth Carroll	0	2	1	8	6	0		1	0.2
196	SA	Loots Bosman								1	0
197	Can	Qaiser Ali	6	16						1	-0.8
198	Pak	Azhar Mahmood	2	21		25	46	0		1	-1
199	Ken	Lameck Onyango	16	35		77	60	1		2	-1
200	Zim	Friday Kasteni	9	24						2	-1.2
201	Pak	Naved-ul-Hasan	11	29	1	49	54	0		1	-2
202	Ire	Peter Gillespie	2	8						1	-2.4
203	Scot	Navdeep Poonia	1	6						2	-2.8
204	Ber	Oliver Pitcher	28	81	1					3	-3.8
205	Ber	Clay Smith	0	5						1	-4
206	Ber	Janeiro Tucker	13	33	4	131	132	0		3	-5.8
207	Ken	David Obuya	5	22						2	-7.6
208	NL	Luuk van Troost	5	10	1	59	24	1		2	-8.8
209	NL	Alexei Kervezee	17	54						2	-9.2
210	Scot	Dewald Nel				24	18	0		1	-9.6
211	Ber	Malachi Jones	1	8	2	74	42	1		1	-10.8
212	NZ	Daryl Tuffey				40	36	0		1	-11.2
213	Scot	Gavin Hamilton	11	44						3	-13.2
214	Eng	Jamie Dalrymple	5	16	1	50	42	0		2	-14.2
215	Ber	Irvine Romaine	11	32		29	18	0		3	-18.2
216	NL	Adeel Raja	8	14		61	47	0		1	-18.6
217	Ken	Nehemiah Odhiambo				33	18	0		1	-18.6
218	Ban	Tapash Baisya				35	17	0		1	-21.4
219	Ire	Paul Mooney	0	1		40	21	0		1	-24
220	Ber	Dwayne Leverock	10	39	1	182	141	2		3	-27.4
221	Can	Henry Osinde	1	3		76	56	0		2	-31.6
222	NZ	Mark Gillespie	2	8	3	109	73	0		2	-38

*Run outs are counted as 1 for a direct hit, and 0.5 if the player is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.

The Chernoff gallery of the top nine World Cup 2007 players appears below. The data below the face is in the following format: total points | total runs / strike rate | wickets / economy rate.

There are now four Australians, two South Africans, two Sri Lankans, and one New Zealander in this list. Notice that Glenn McGrath hasn't faced a single delivery so far in this World Cup!

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

Recall that batsmen have round faces and a short and wide nose. They smile more when they score more runs. Batting all-rounders have taller noses, and their faces that aren't so round.

Here are the faces of the nine highest wicket-taking bowlers in the Super Eights (bowling points | 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.

Bowlers have tapered faces, a tall and thin nose, and bigger ears if they take more wickets.

It's not particularly surprising that four of the nine bowlers are Australians; no World Cup has seen such overwhelming domination by one team.

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 "Brendon McCullum" or "Kumara Sangakkara"), and those that participate in run out dismissals have bigger eyes ("Lou Vincent").

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