Kallis is MVP on Day 4

If you look down at the Chernoff faces of the top nine performers in the 2007 World Cup so far you'll find that the smiling round faces of batsmen have replaced the dour and tapered faces of the bowlers.

This is no surprise: most strong teams have ended up batting first against the minnows and unleashed a murderous and savage attack on their confused and hapless bowlers.

Jacques Kallis goes well past Ricky Ponting because he hit a bigger century faster; he also bowled a decent bowling spell taking one wicket. Scott Styris claims the fourth place with a match-winning performance, although most of us would argue that his effort probably warranted the top place.

Four South Africans have broken into the top 10, while the first visible Englishman is at # 36. Of course we shouldn't read too much into all this because SA played very weak opponents, and it's still early days anyway.

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct \| St	Rc	Bb	W	M	Total
1	SA	Jacques Kallis	128	109	0	18	24	0	1	182.00
2	Aus	Ricky Ponting	113	93	0				1	151.60
3	Ken	Steve Tikolo	72	76	2	34	54	2	1	150.40
4	NZ	Scott Styris	87	113	1	25	42	2	1	145.20
5	WI	Dwayne Smith	32	15	0	36	60	3	1	136.00
6	SA	Graeme Smith	67	59	1	32	48	1	1	134.20
7	Ire	Jeremy Bray	115	137	1				1	125.40
8	SA	Mark Boucher	75	31	0 \| 0				1	125.20
9	SL	Farveez Maharoof	9	5	0	23	42	4	1	120.60
10	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	72	40	0				1	112.00
11	Aus	Brad Hogg	40	15	0	16	43	1	1	110.40
12	Pak	Iftikhar Anjum	11	18	0	44	60	3	1	107.60
13	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	85	90	1				1	103.00
14	WI	Dwayne Bravo	16	17	2	42	54	3	1	101.60
15	SL	Kumar Sangakkara	76	83	3 \| 0				1	100.60
16	Aus	Glenn McGrath	0	0	0	14	36	3	1	98.80
17	Ken	Maurice Ouma	58	89	0 \| 1				1	90.80
18	NZ	Jacob Oram	63	83	0	25	36	1	1	87.40
19	SL	Lasith Malinga	0	0	0	10	30	3	1	86.00
20	Zim	Stuart Matsikenyeri	73	76	0	6	6	0	1	84.00
21	Pak	Shoaib Malik	62	54	1	24	24	0	1	81.00
22	NZ	Shane Bond	0	0	0	19	60	2	1	77.00
23	SL	Chamara Silva	55	45	0				1	74.00
24	Aus	Matthew Hayden	60	73	0				1	73.60
25	Can	Sunil Dhaniram	34	35	0	34	54	1	1	73.20
26	Ire	Trent Johnston	20	24	0	32	60	1	1	72.80
27	Zim	Vusumuzi Sibanda	67	84	1				1	71.80
28	Aus	Brad Hodge	29	28	0	17	36	1	1	71.40
29	Ken	Jimmy Kamande	0	0	0	25	60	2	1	71.00
30	WI	Marlon Samuels	63	70	0				1	70.00
31	Aus	Adam Gilchrist	46	55	1 \| 0				1	65.00
32	Ken	Hiren Varaiya	0	0	0	19	60	1	1	65.00
33	Zim	Elton Chigumbura	4	9	1	21	36	2	1	61.60
34	Zim	Sean Williams	14	13	0	21	36	1	1	61.40
35	Ire	Kyle McCallan	0	3	0	56	54	2	1	56.80
36	Eng	Paul Nixon	42	41	1 \| 0				1	56.20
37	WI	Daren Powell	1	1	0	42	60	2	1	55.20
38	SA	Shaun Pollock	0	0	1	4	36	1	1	53.80
39	Aus	Shaun Tait	0	0	0	45	48	2	1	53.40
40	NZ	James Franklin	0	0	1	43	54	2	1	53.20
41	Ire	Andrew White	28	48	0	15	18	1	1	53.00
42	Pak	Umar Gul	0	1	0	38	54	2	1	52.40
43	Zim	Gary Brent	3	12	0	40	60	2	1	52.40
44	SL	Muttiah Muralidaran	0	0	0	28	40	2	1	52.00
45	Pak	Mohammad Hafeez	11	28	0	39	54	2	1	51.80
46	WI	Corey Collymore	8	2	0	27	50	1	1	51.40
47	Scot	Colin Smith	51	76	0 \| 1				1	51.20
48	Eng	Kevin Pietersen	60	92	0	2	6	0	1	49.20
49	SA	Justin Kemp	0	0	0	18	24	2	1	49.20
50	Aus	Shane Watson	18	11	1	18	42	0	1	47.80
51	Eng	James Anderson	0	0	0	39	48	2	1	47.40
52	Scot	Majid Haq	16	22	0	49	42	2	1	47.00
53	WI	Ramnaresh Sarwan	49	65	0				1	46.00
54	Zim	Christopher Mpofu	0	5	0	58	60	2	1	46.00
55	Eng	Liam Plunkett	29	34	0	43	42	1	1	45.40
56	Ber	Kevin Hurdle	6	3	1	61	54	2	1	44.80
57	Ber	Lionel Cann	28	32	0	34	30	1	1	44.40
58	Ken	Tanmay Mishra	35	54	1				1	43.80
59	Ber	Saleem Mukuddem	0	4	0	50	60	2	1	42.80
60	Ken	Thomas Odoyo	0	0	0	32	48	1	1	42.40
61	Can	Geoff Barnett	41	50	0				1	42.00
62	SL	Chaminda Vaas	0	0	0	11	36	1	1	41.80
63	Zim	Brendan Taylor	24	40	3 \| 1				1	41.00
64	WI	Brian Lara	37	56	2				1	39.20
65	SA	Andre Hall	0	0	0	15	36	1	1	37.80
66	Ire	Andre Botha	1	7	0	32	60	1	1	36.40
67	WI	Jerome Taylor	2	4	0	38	60	1	1	34.80
68	SA	Charles Langeveldt	0	0	0	22	36	1	1	30.80
69	Ire	Langford-Smith	15	17	1	34	54	0	1	30.60
70	NL	Ryan ten Doeschate	57	74	0	58	42	0	1	30.40
71	Can	Anderson Cummins	1	3	0	32	48	1	1	30.00
72	Ire	Niall O'Brien	1	5	1 \| 0				1	27.00
73	NZ	Craig McMillan	27	34	0				1	26.80
74	Ken	Peter Ongondo	0	0	1	51	60	1	1	26.00
75	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	0	1	1	17	48	0	1	25.60
76	Ire	Eoin Morgan	21	27	1				1	25.40
77	Eng	Monty Panesar	0	0	0	47	60	1	1	25.00
78	Pak	Inzamam ul-Haq	36	65	1				1	25.00
79	Pak	Kamran Akmal	0	1	3 \| 1				1	24.20
80	SA	Ashwell Prince	0	0	0				1	24.00
81	Can	Ashif Mulla	25	39	1				1	23.80
82	Can	Umar Bhatti	1	2	0	44	54	1	1	23.60
83	Ire	Kevin O'Brien	10	28	0	8	12	1	1	23.20
84	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	22	26	0				1	23.20
85	SA	AB De Villiers	0	2	0				1	22.40
86	SL	Upul Tharanga	30	47	0				1	22.40
87	Pak	Danish Kaneria	0	0	0	45	54	1	1	22.20
88	Aus	Nathan Bracken	0	0	1	12	36	0	1	21.80
89	NZ	Brendon McCullum	0	0	4 \| 0				1	20.00
90	Scot	Paul Hoffmann	0	0	1	57	60	1	1	20.00
91	Ire	Boyd Rankin	0	0	1	43	42	1	1	19.60
92	Ber	David Hemp	14	18	1				1	18.60
93	Zim	Prosper Utseya	1	3	0	29	60	0	1	18.60
94	NL	William Stelling	1	4	0	43	48	1	1	18.20
95	Can	Ian Billcliff	34	63	0				1	17.60
96	Scot	Glenn Rogers	6	19	0	52	60	1	1	16.80
97	Pak	Mohammad Yousuf	37	72	0				1	16.40
98	Zim	Edward Rainsford	1	1	0	44	42	1	1	14.80
99	Aus	Michael Clarke	15	20	0				1	14.00
100	WI	Denesh Ramdin	1	4	3 \| 0				1	13.80
101	Eng	Paul Collingwood	31	54	0	20	18	0	1	13.20
102	Can	John Davison	8	19	0	31	54	0	1	13.00
103	Pak	Younis Khan	9	13	1				1	12.60
104	SL	Tillakaratne Dilshan	12	15	0				1	12.00
105	Ber	Dean Minors	4	3	1 \| 0				1	10.60
106	Eng	Michael Vaughan	26	52	0				1	10.40
107	SA	Andre Nel	0	0	0	19	36	0	1	9.80
108	NL	Peter Borren	2	6	0	52	48	1	1	9.60
109	Pak	Imran Nazir	6	3	0				1	9.60
110	Zim	Terry Duffin	12	22	0				1	6.40
111	NZ	Stephen Fleming	7	11	0				1	5.20
112	Scot	Craig Wright	4	21	0	58	60	1	1	5.20
113	NL	Jeroen Smits	0	0	1 \| 0				1	5.00
114	Can	Ashish Bagai	19	48	1 \| 0				1	4.60
115	Eng	Ed Joyce	0	2	1				1	3.40
116	Aus	Michael Hussey	4	6	0				1	3.20
117	SL	Russel Arnold	2	1	0				1	3.20
118	Ber	Dwayne Leverock	1	8	0	67	60	1	1	0.60
119	Ken	Collins Obuya	0	0	0				1	0.00
120	NZ	Ross Taylor	0	1	0				1	-0.80
121	Ber	Janeiro Tucker	4	21	2	50	60	0	1	-0.80
122	Can	Qaiser Ali	6	16	0				1	-0.80
123	NL	Eric Szwarczynski	12	31	0				1	-0.80
124	WI	Chris Gayle	2	6	0				1	-0.80
125	Scot	Navdeep Poonia	1	4	0				1	-1.20
126	Can	Abdool Samad	15	29	0	23	18	0	1	-1.80
127	Pak	Naved-ul-Hasan	11	29	1	49	54	0	1	-2.00
128	Scot	Fraser Watts	9	25	0				1	-2.00
129	NZ	Jeetan Patel	0	0	0	42	48	0	1	-3.60
130	Ber	Clay Smith	0	5	0				1	-4.00
131	Scot	Ryan Watson	6	20	0				1	-4.00
132	Ire	William Porterfield	0	6	0				1	-4.80
133	NZ	Lou Vincent	0	6	0				1	-4.80
134	Zim	Chamu Chibhabha	12	36	0				1	-4.80
135	Can	Henry Osinde	1	2	0	31	32	0	1	-5.00
136	NZ	Daniel Vettori	0	0	0	53	60	0	1	-5.00
137	Eng	Ian Bell	5	19	0				1	-5.20
138	Ber	Oliver Pitcher	6	28	1				1	-5.40
139	Ken	David Obuya	4	17	0				1	-5.60
140	NL	Bas Zuiderent	1	10	0				1	-6.00
141	WI	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	19	63	1				1	-7.40
142	NL	Alexei Kervezee	17	52	0				1	-7.60
143	NL	Darron Reekers	4	6	0	35	30	0	1	-7.80
144	Eng	Jamie Dalrymple	3	12	1	29	24	0	1	-8.40
145	Scot	Gavin Hamilton	3	18	0				1	-8.40
146	Ken	Ravindu Shah	6	26	0				1	-8.80
147	Scot	John Blain	0	0	0	29	24	0	1	-9.80
148	Scot	Dougie Brown	19	37	0	86	54	1	1	-10.40
149	NL	Luuk van Troost	5	6	0	59	24	1	1	-10.60
150	Ber	Irvine Romaine	0	1	0	29	18	0	1	-15.40
151	NL	Tim de Leede	21	36	0	48	24	0	1	-15.60
152	Ken	Nehemiah Odhiambo	0	0	0	33	18	0	1	-18.60
153	Ber	Delyone Borden	6	25	0	27	18	0	1	-20.60
154	NL	Daan van Bunge	5	16	2	56	24	0	1	-29.60

Looking at this table some readers might notice some apparently anomalous rankings. This is because our tables do not show run out points, although they are indeed being considered while calculating the MVP.

That's why de Villiers (85), who got a two-ball duck, and Prince (80), who didn't even get to bat, get points: because both effected run outs with direct hits fetching 24 points. Besides these two, Ireland's McCallan and Pakistan's Rao Iftikhar Anjum also made direct hits.

That's also why Tait (39) is ahead of Franklin (40) in spite of near-identical bowling performances, and Hayden (24) is ahead of Samuels (30) although their batting performances are very similar.

Finally, here are the Chernoff faces after Day 4. Round faces, a wide nose and small ears are some of the attributes of pure batsmen ("Kallis", "Ponting"); tapered faces, tall noses and big ears indicate pure bowlers ("Maharoof"). The all-rounders have a mix of these attributes.

As more teams join the action, it's getting harder to collect data and compute the MVP. I thank my colleagues Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar of Cranes Software International Limited for undertaking this task so patiently and diligently.

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