Jayasuriya faces pressure at the top

April 19, 2007 16:01 IST

Starting today, we're bringing back all the 2007 World Cup players in the most valuable player (MVP) list. We will also order the list based on total points.

Sanath Jayasuriya is still the top-ranked player with 699 points. But he faces stiff competition from Scott Styris (695), Jacques Kallis (670), Graeme Smith (658) and Matthew Hayden (641). Muttiah Muralitharan (538) and Ricky Ponting (511) aren't too far behind.

With just six World Cup games to go, the race to become the MVP is tantalizingly poised.

Rank	Country	Player	Runs	Balls	Ct | St	Rc	Bb	W	Run Outs	M	Total
1	SL	Sanath Jayasuriya	403	402	3	212	320	5	1.5	9	699.40
2	NZ	Scott Styris	435	538	3	184	276	8	0.5	8	695.40
3	SA	Jacques Kallis	480	569	3	251	336	5	0.5	9	669.60
4	SA	Graeme Smith	441	419	7	152	150	4	0.5	9	657.80
5	Aus	Matthew Hayden	477	437	5				0.5	8	641.40
6	SL	Muttiah Muralitharan	3	3	4	276	418	19	0.0	8	538.00
7	SA	AB De Villiers	357	335	5				2.0	9	519.00
8	Aus	Ricky Ponting	414	428	5				0.0	8	510.60
9	Aus	Glenn McGrath	0	0	0	272	357	20	0.5	8	505.60
10	Aus	Brad Hogg	45	21	3	260	378	15	0.0	8	490.60
11	NZ	Jacob Oram	162	227	5	192	315	9	1.5	8	479.40
12	SL	Mahela Jayawardene	414	516	3				1.0	9	454.20
13	NZ	Daniel Vettori	24	21	2	336	466	15	0.0	8	438.00
14	NZ	Shane Bond	0	0	3	154	358	12	0.0	7	435.40
15	Aus	Adam Gilchrist	302	325	5 | 4				1.0	8	433.00
16	Eng	Paul Collingwood	270	357	6	252	300	5	1.5	8	428.40
17	Aus	Nathan Bracken	0	0	2	182	328	14	0.0	7	426.40
18	SA	Andrew Hall	25	30	2	292	417	14	0.5	8	425.60
19	SL	Chaminda Vaas	23	18	3	207	370	12	0.0	8	423.60
20	Aus	Michael Clarke	319	321	4	63	72	0	0.5	8	407.80
21	Eng	Andrew Flintoff	77	120	3	239	355	12	0.0	7	406.00
22	SA	Herschelle Gibbs	303	324	7				1.0	9	405.80
23	SL	Lasith Malinga	2	9	2	214	260	15	0.5	6	372.80
24	Aus	Shaun Tait	0	0	1	354	375	16	1.5	8	371.00
25	NZ	Stephen Fleming	340	396	1				0.0	8	368.20

Ct: Catches taken | St: Stumpings | Rc: Runs conceded | Bb: Balls bowled | W: Wickets taken | M: Matches played.*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 three Australians, two Sri Lankans, three South Africans and one New Zealander in this list. It is very likely that one of these will go on to become the MVP.

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 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.

Batsmen scoring more runs appear higher in this photo gallery.

We are also giving the total batting points of these nine players (remember that the total points are obtained by adding the batting, bowling and fielding points). Kallis, for example, has 505 batting points out of 670.

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.

Bowlers taking more wickets appear higher in this gallery.

Notice that 494 out of McGrath's 506 points are for his bowling contributuions.

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