MVP Day 6: Kallis still on top

It will take a special effort for someone to displace Jacques Kallis from the top. The only way he can fall is if he has a poor second match.

That's what happened to Ricky Ponting. By getting out for just 23 against Netherlands, Ponting fell to the 19th place; being a pure batsman, he'll always find it difficult to hold his place right at the top because of the way MVP is calculated.

The two Brads: Brad Hodge (7) and Brad Hogg (13) gained from the tie against Netherlands. Hodge, in particular jumped from the 29th to the 7th place with his 123 in 89 balls.

For England, Paul Collingwood jumped to the 43rd place (he was at 115), because of his 62 at a run a ball. Ravinder Bopara (16), who filled in for Flintoff, is the unlikely topper from England after a good game against Canada with 2 wickets and 29 runs scored at almost a run a ball.

The surprise package is Sunil Dhaniram of Canada at the 15th place. He took 3 English wickets giving away 41 runs and then hit a quick 30. Earlier, he scored 34 in 35 balls against Kenya and got a wicket after an economical bowling spell.

It's interesting to see so many Indian names in the "minnow" teams.

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct \| St	Rc	Bb	W	M	Total	Average
1	SA	Jacques Kallis	128	109	0	18	24	0	1	182.00	182.00
2	Ken	Steve Tikolo	72	76	2	34	54	2	1	150.40	150.40
3	NZ	Scott Styris	87	113	1	25	42	2	1	145.20	145.20
4	WI	Dwayne Smith	32	15	0	36	60	3	1	136.00	136.00
5	SA	Graeme Smith	67	59	1	32	48	1	1	134.20	134.20
6	SA	Mark Boucher	75	31	0 \| 0				1	125.20	125.20
7	Aus	Brad Hodge	152	117	0	17	36	1	2	246.20	123.10
8	SL	Farveez Maharoof	9	5	0	23	42	4	1	120.60	120.60
9	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	72	40	0				1	112.00	112.00
10	Ban	Mashrafe Mortaza	0	0	0	38	57	4	1	103.60	103.60
11	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	85	90	1				1	103.00	103.00
12	WI	Dwayne Bravo	16	17	2	42	54	3	1	101.60	101.60
13	Aus	Brad Hogg	40	15	0	43	72	5	2	202.60	101.30
14	SL	Kumar Sangakkara	76	83	3 \| 0				1	100.60	100.60
15	Can	Sunil Dhaniram	64	68	1	75	114	4	2	190.80	95.40
16	Eng	Ravinder Bopara	29	30	0	43	54	2	1	94.20	94.20
17	Ban	Abdur Razzak	0	0	2	38	60	3	1	92.00	92.00
18	Ken	Maurice Ouma	58	89	0 \| 1				1	90.80	90.80
19	Aus	Ricky Ponting	136	115	0				2	180.00	90.00
20	Pak	Mohammad Sami	12	34	0	29	60	3	1	87.80	87.80
21	NZ	Jacob Oram	63	83	0	25	36	1	1	87.40	87.40
22	SL	Lasith Malinga	0	0	0	10	30	3	1	86.00	86.00
23	Ban	Mohammad Rafique	0	0	0	35	60	3	1	85.00	85.00
24	Zim	Stuart Matsikenyeri	73	76	0	6	6	0	1	84.00	84.00
25	Pak	Iftikhar Anjum	19	61	0	73	120	5	2	156.20	78.10
26	NZ	Shane Bond	0	0	0	19	60	2	1	77.00	77.00
27	Aus	Glenn McGrath	0	0	0	47	84	5	2	152.20	76.10
28	Aus	Adam Gilchrist	103	119	1 \| 1				2	149.80	74.90
29	Aus	Michael Clarke	108	105	1				2	149.00	74.50
30	SL	Chamara Silva	55	45	0				1	74.00	74.00
31	Zim	Vusumuzi Sibanda	67	84	1				1	71.80	71.80
32	Ken	Jimmy Kamande	0	0	0	25	60	2	1	71.00	71.00
33	WI	Marlon Samuels	63	70	0				1	70.00	70.00
34	Ind	Munaf Patel	15	15	0	39	51	2	1	67.80	67.80
35	Ken	Hiren Varaiya	0	0	0	19	60	1	1	65.00	65.00
36	Ire	Trent Johnston	29	38	2	52	102	2	2	127.20	63.60
37	Ire	Jeremy Bray	118	150	2				2	126.00	63.00
38	Zim	Elton Chigumbura	4	9	1	21	36	2	1	61.60	61.60
39	Zim	Sean Williams	14	13	0	21	36	1	1	61.40	61.40
40	Ban	Tamim Iqbal	51	53	0				1	59.60	59.60
41	Ire	Kyle McCallan	0	4	0	68	88	4	2	119.20	59.60
42	Ire	Andre Botha	1	13	1	37	108	3	2	118.00	59.00
43	Eng	Paul Collingwood	93	102	0	61	72	0	2	113.00	56.50
44	WI	Daren Powell	1	1	0	42	60	2	1	55.20	55.20
45	Aus	Matthew Hayden	89	107	1				2	109.40	54.70
46	Ind	Virender Sehwag	2	6	0	17	30	2	1	54.20	54.20
47	SA	Shaun Pollock	0	0	1	4	36	1	1	53.80	53.80
48	NZ	James Franklin	0	0	1	43	54	2	1	53.20	53.20
49	Eng	Paul Nixon	65	49	1 \| 1				2	105.80	52.90
50	Zim	Gary Brent	3	12	0	40	60	2	1	52.40	52.40
51	SL	Muttiah Muralidaran	0	0	0	28	40	2	1	52.00	52.00
52	WI	Corey Collymore	8	2	0	27	50	1	1	51.40	51.40
53	Ire	Boyd Rankin	0	0	1	75	96	4	2	102.80	51.40
54	Scot	Colin Smith	51	76	0 \| 1				1	51.20	51.20
55	Pak	Shoaib Malik	71	79	1	33	30	1	2	98.80	49.40
56	SA	Justin Kemp	0	0	0	18	24	2	1	49.20	49.20
57	Ire	Niall O'Brien	73	112	3 \| 0				2	95.40	47.70
58	Ind	Yuvraj Singh	47	58	0	15	18	0	1	47.00	47.00
59	Scot	Majid Haq	16	22	0	49	42	2	1	47.00	47.00
60	Pak	Mohammad Hafeez	15	34	2	54	78	3	2	93.20	46.60
61	WI	Ramnaresh Sarwan	49	65	0				1	46.00	46.00
62	Zim	Christopher Mpofu	0	5	0	58	60	2	1	46.00	46.00
63	Can	Ashif Mulla	83	99	1				2	91.80	45.90
64	Eng	Liam Plunkett	29	34	0	89	96	3	2	90.60	45.30
65	Ber	Kevin Hurdle	6	3	1	61	54	2	1	44.80	44.80
66	Ber	Lionel Cann	28	32	0	34	30	1	1	44.40	44.40
67	Ken	Tanmay Mishra	35	54	1				1	43.80	43.80
68	Ber	Saleem Mukuddem	0	4	0	50	60	2	1	42.80	42.80
69	Ind	Zaheer Khan	15	17	0	41	54	1	1	42.60	42.60
70	Ken	Thomas Odoyo	0	0	0	32	48	1	1	42.40	42.40
71	SL	Chaminda Vaas	0	0	0	11	36	1	1	41.80	41.80
72	Ban	Saqibul Hasan	53	86	0	44	60	0	1	41.20	41.20
73	Zim	Brendan Taylor	24	40	3 \| 1				1	41.00	41.00
74	Aus	Shaun Tait	0	0	0	74	90	3	2	82.00	41.00
75	Eng	James Anderson	0	0	0	79	108	3	2	79.40	39.70
76	WI	Brian Lara	37	56	2				1	39.20	39.20
77	SA	Andre Hall	0	0	0	15	36	1	1	37.80	37.80
78	Ban	Mushfiqur Rahim	56	107	2 \| 0				1	36.40	36.40
79	Ire	Langford-Smith	15	17	1	65	114	1	2	71.60	35.80
80	Aus	Nathan Bracken	0	0	1	45	78	2	2	70.40	35.20
81	WI	Jerome Taylor	2	4	0	38	60	1	1	34.80	34.80
82	Aus	Shane Watson	30	15	1	18	42	0	2	68.60	34.30
83	Pak	Umar Gul	1	14	0	62	108	2	2	63.20	31.60
84	Eng	Monty Panesar	0	0	0	82	120	2	2	62.00	31.00
85	SA	Charles Langeveldt	0	0	0	22	36	1	1	30.80	30.80
86	Eng	Kevin Pietersen	65	96	1	2	6	0	2	61.00	30.50
87	Ire	Andrew White	32	51	0	15	18	1	2	58.60	29.30
88	Ind	Sourav Ganguly	66	129	0				1	28.80	28.80
89	Can	John Davison	29	44	1	63	114	0	2	56.00	28.00
90	NZ	Craig McMillan	27	34	0				1	26.80	26.80
91	Eng	Ed Joyce	66	105	1				2	53.00	26.50
92	NL	Ryan ten Doeschate	58	80	1	134	102	2	2	52.60	26.30
93	Ken	Peter Ongondo	0	0	1	51	60	1	1	26.00	26.00
94	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	0	1	1	17	48	0	1	25.60	25.60
95	NL	Tim de Leede	35	58	0	88	84	2	2	50.80	25.40
96	Pak	Kamran Akmal	27	48	3 \| 2				2	50.60	25.30
97	Can	Geoff Barnett	48	57	0				2	50.40	25.20
98	Eng	Michael Vaughan	71	116	0				2	49.20	24.60
99	SA	Ashwell Prince	0	0	0				1	24.00	24.00
100	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	22	26	0				1	23.20	23.20
101	Ind	Mahendra Dhoni	0	3	1 \| 2				1	22.60	22.60
102	SL	Upul Tharanga	30	47	0				1	22.40	22.40
103	SA	AB De Villiers	0	2	0				1	22.40	22.40
104	Pak	Danish Kaneria	0	0	0	45	54	1	1	22.20	22.20
105	NZ	Brendon McCullum	0	0	4 \| 0				1	20.00	20.00
106	Scot	Paul Hoffmann	0	0	1	57	60	1	1	20.00	20.00
107	Ire	Kevin O'Brien	26	80	0	37	48	2	2	37.40	18.70
108	Ber	David Hemp	14	18	1				1	18.60	18.60
109	Zim	Prosper Utseya	1	3	0	29	60	0	1	18.60	18.60
110	NL	William Stelling	1	4	0	43	48	1	1	18.20	18.20
111	Ban	Aftab Ahmed	8	10	2				1	18.00	18.00
112	Ire	Eoin Morgan	23	32	3				2	35.40	17.70
113	Can	Abdool Samad	51	96	0	54	49	1	2	34.40	17.20
114	Ban	Syed Rasel	0	0	0	31	60	0	1	17.00	17.00
115	Scot	Glenn Rogers	6	19	0	52	60	1	1	16.80	16.80
116	NL	Peter Borren	26	24	1	141	108	2	2	31.20	15.60
117	Ind	Harbhajan Singh	0	3	0	30	60	0	1	15.60	15.60
118	Zim	Edward Rainsford	1	1	0	44	42	1	1	14.80	14.80
119	Can	Anderson Cummins	1	3	0	90	90	2	2	29.60	14.80
120	Can	George Codrington	7	8	1	70	60	1	1	14.60	14.60
121	WI	Denesh Ramdin	1	4	3 \| 0				1	13.80	13.80
122	Can	Desmond Chumney	27	51	0				1	13.20	13.20
123	Can	Ian Billcliff	54	104	0				2	24.80	12.40
124	Pak	Inzamam ul-Haq	37	68	1				2	24.60	12.30
125	SL	Tillakaratne Dilshan	12	15	0				1	12.00	12.00
126	Pak	Mohammad Yousuf	52	103	0				2	21.60	10.80
127	Ber	Dean Minors	4	3	1 \| 0				1	10.60	10.60
128	Eng	Ian Bell	33	63	1				2	20.60	10.30
129	Can	Umar Bhatti	1	2	0	85	101	1	2	20.20	10.10
130	SA	Andre Nel	0	0	0	19	36	0	1	9.80	9.80
131	Pak	Imran Nazir	30	54	0				2	16.80	8.40
132	Pak	Younis Khan	9	16	2				2	15.20	7.60
133	Can	Ashish Bagai	25	59	2 \| 0				2	12.80	6.40
134	Zim	Terry Duffin	12	22	0				1	6.40	6.40
135	Ind	Rahul Dravid	14	28	0				1	5.60	5.60
136	Ind	Ajit Agarkar	0	2	0	41	60	0	1	5.40	5.40
137	NZ	Stephen Fleming	7	11	0				1	5.20	5.20
138	Scot	Craig Wright	4	21	0	58	60	1	1	5.20	5.20
139	NL	Daan van Bunge	38	49	2	56	24	0	2	10.00	5.00
140	Aus	Michael Hussey	6	10	1				2	9.00	4.50
141	Ind	Robin Uthappa	9	17	0				1	4.40	4.40
142	NL	Darron Reekers	29	25	0	83	66	0	2	7.80	3.90
143	SL	Russel Arnold	2	1	0				1	3.20	3.20
144	NL	Jeroen Smits	3	12	1 \| 0				2	1.40	0.70
145	Ber	Dwayne Leverock	1	8	0	67	60	1	1	0.60	0.60
146	Ban	Habibul Bashar	1	8	1				1	0.60	0.60
147	Ken	Collins Obuya	0	0	0				1	0.00	0.00
148	Ind	Sachin Tendulkar	7	26	0	8	18	0	1	-0.40	-0.40
149	NL	Eric Szwarczynski	12	31	0				1	-0.80	-0.80
150	Can	Qaiser Ali	6	16	0				1	-0.80	-0.80
151	Ber	Janeiro Tucker	4	21	2	50	60	0	1	-0.80	-0.80
152	WI	Chris Gayle	2	6	0				1	-0.80	-0.80
153	NZ	Ross Taylor	0	1	0				1	-0.80	-0.80
154	Pak	Azhar Mahmood	2	21	0	25	46	0	1	-1.00	-1.00
155	Scot	Navdeep Poonia	1	4	0				1	-1.20	-1.20
156	Pak	Naved-ul-Hasan	11	29	1	49	54	0	1	-2.00	-2.00
157	Scot	Fraser Watts	9	25	0				1	-2.00	-2.00
158	Ban	Mohammad Ashraful	8	23	0				1	-2.40	-2.40
159	Ban	Shahriar Nafees	2	8	0				1	-2.40	-2.40
160	NZ	Jeetan Patel	0	0	0	42	48	0	1	-3.60	-3.60
161	Scot	Ryan Watson	6	20	0				1	-4.00	-4.00
162	Ber	Clay Smith	0	5	0				1	-4.00	-4.00
163	NL	Luuk van Troost	5	10	1	59	24	1	2	-8.80	-4.40
164	NL	Alexei Kervezee	17	54	0				2	-9.20	-4.60
165	Zim	Chamu Chibhabha	12	36	0				1	-4.80	-4.80
166	NZ	Lou Vincent	0	6	0				1	-4.80	-4.80
167	Can	Henry Osinde	1	2	0	31	32	0	1	-5.00	-5.00
168	NZ	Daniel Vettori	0	0	0	53	60	0	1	-5.00	-5.00
169	Ber	Oliver Pitcher	6	28	1				1	-5.40	-5.40
170	NL	Bas Zuiderent	10	39	0				2	-11.20	-5.60
171	Ken	David Obuya	4	17	0				1	-5.60	-5.60
172	Ire	William Porterfield	13	56	1				2	-13.80	-6.90
173	NL	Mark Jonkman	0	2	0	35	37	0	1	-7.00	-7.00
174	Eng	Jamie Dalrymple	5	16	1	50	42	0	2	-14.20	-7.10
175	WI	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	19	63	1				1	-7.40	-7.40
176	Scot	Gavin Hamilton	3	18	0				1	-8.40	-8.40
177	Ken	Ravindu Shah	6	26	0				1	-8.80	-8.80
178	Scot	John Blain	0	0	0	29	24	0	1	-9.80	-9.80
179	Scot	Dougie Brown	19	37	0	86	54	1	1	-10.40	-10.40
180	Ber	Irvine Romaine	0	1	0	29	18	0	1	-15.40	-15.40
181	NL	Adeel Raja	8	14	0	61	47	0	1	-18.60	-18.60
182	Ken	Nehemiah Odhiambo	0	0	0	33	18	0	1	-18.60	-18.60
183	Ber	Delyone Borden	6	25	0	27	18	0	1	-20.60	-20.60

"Brad Hodge" is the only new entrant in Day 6's Chernoff gallery. With his round face, wide nose and smiling face he's easily identified as a pure batsman. "Maharoof" has a classical bowler's face: tapered, with a tall nose, and scowling. The big ears suggest that he has been among the wickets.

The allrounders have noses that are neither too wide nor tall. Batting allrounders like Tikolo and Styris have a whiff of a smile; bowling allrounders like Dwayne Smith have much less to smile about.

I again thank my colleagues Debasish Ghosh and K Anil Kumar of Cranes Software International Limited for turning up on a holiday to prepare this material.