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 |
Ct: Catches | St: Stumpings | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | M: Matches played
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.
Video: Gibbs hitting six sixes
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