Stunning Bopara Back On Top Of MVP Table
Martin van Jaarsveld, who missed Kent's Friends Provident Trophy (FPT) quarter final to be at his wife Jill's bedside for the birth of their daughter Bella, has been knocked off top spot in the overall MVP by Ravi Bopara but hangs on to the FPT MVP.
Bopara's extraordinary innings of 201 not out against Leicestershire at Grace Road saw him rack up the points to jump back to the top of the pile overall and keep himself in with a shout of winning the FPT MVP as well. He now has 969 runs and 16 wickets overall and has moved up to third in the FPT behind van Jaarsveld and Samit Patel, who can score no further points as Notts went out to Durham.
Patel eclipsed Bopara in terms of numbers of points scored in the quarter finals illustrating the way the MVP gives points for impacting a game not just for runs scored and wickets taken. Patel scored 114 out of a total of 188 and then took 3-27 from ten overs scoring a match total of 46.19 points. Bopara's 201 and 2-34 from 6 overs earned 43.27 points.
Along with van Jaarsveld and Bopara the two other men in with a chance of lifting the title of FPT MVP are Yasir Arafat and Tim Bresnan. Both bowling all-rounders have been ever present in the top ten after consistent starts to the season and both will have the opportunity to score points in the FPT semi-finals. Bresnan is third in the overall MVP and moved up to seventh in the FPT MVP after his 4-31 proved too much for Gloucestershire at Bristol. He has 366 runs and 34 wickets in all cricket, 89 runs and 16 wickets in the FPT.
Arafat is the leading wicket taker in the FPT. He took 3-23 from eight overs in Kent's win over the Somerset Sabres taking his tally to 22, 35 across all cricket. He lies in fourth position in the FPT MVP sixth in the overall MVP.
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