Hundred MVP too close to call

The race for the first Hundred MVP is looking too close to call after six excellent rounds. With two group stage fixtures left, Adam Milne and Dane van Niekerk hold narrow leads in their respective competitions.

Featuring in every game so far, New Zealand’s Adam Milne is leading the race for Men’s MVP with a total score of 78.48 MVP points – this is almost entirely due to his consistent and lethal bowling that has left him with a bowling score of 65.51.

The New Zealand international has taken eight wickets in the competition and has helped his side Birmingham Phoenix to the top of the table.

Birmingham Phoenix’s dominance in the rankings is evident, with three of their most impressive performers sitting inside the top five in the men’s competition.

Moeen Ali (71.3) and Benny Howell (70.1) sit third and fourth respectively with the former rewarded for his fine form in The Hundred by his selection in the England Test squad ahead of their second Test Match against India.

With the England Test squad leaving the new competition after two fixtures it has given others the opportunity to stand up. Moeen’s performances haven’t gone unnoticed with the devastating all-rounder scoring the third-most runs (189) while also taking four wickets and captaining his side to the summit.

Welsh Fire leg spinner Qais Ahmad sits just above Moeen with 75 MVP points after impressing with the ball – most notably in his opening fixture where he took 4/19 with the ball.
The only bowlers to have taken more wickets in a Hundred fixture than Ahmad are Marchant de Lange and Imran Tahir. The South-African exploded into life for his side after taking a five-fer and the competitions first hat-trick before wheeling off in typical celebratory fashion.

The rankings reflect a player’s ability to have match-defining performances. For batters this means big hits, huge runs at a rapid strike-rate and bowlers to take key wickets and keep runs to a minimum. The winner of the men’s and women’s MVP in The Hundred each wins a £5,000 prize.

Only five MVP points separate the top three performers in the women’s hundred so far. Dane van Niekerk has been in scintillating form for the Oval Invincibles and currently leads the race ahead of England international, Nat Sciver and Indian international, Jemimah Rodrigues.

South African, van Niekerk, currently has three individual MVP accolades in just six performances, the most of any individual in the competition and has a total of 96.3 MVP points. The all-rounders most impressive performance of the Hundred so far came against Birmingham Phoenix where she amassed 67 runs and took an impressive 2/16 with the ball.

However, similarly to the situation after two games played, Nat Sciver sits narrowly behind in second position with 94.88 MVP points. The all-rounder has mostly impressed with the bat so far and has four scores of over 30 giving her a total of 190 runs – the second highest in the competition.

Sciver’s most recent innings saw her score 54 off 40 balls as she has continues to excel under the bright lights of England’s major grounds.
The only female to register more runs than Sciver after six games is the very impressive Rodrigues who having previously held top-spot also remains very much in the race with a current score of 91.76 MVP points. The Indian batsman still has the highest individual total after she scored 92 not out against Welsh Fire.

Her side, Northern Superchargers currently sit second in the overall standings, level on points with van Niekerk’s Invincibles and Sciver’s Trent Rockets respectively. With only three side’s progressing to the latter stages, these talented performers will hope they can keep up their impressive form.

The highest ranked performer from table topping side Southern Brave is fifth placed, Amanda-Jade Wellington. The 24-year old has taken eight wickets in the first six matches and has amassed 78 MVP points.

View the men’s and women’s Hundred MVP Rankings.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest MVP news by following @pcaMVP on Twitter.