Dilshan in line for Most Valuable Player award

Sri Lanka's dynamic all rounder Tillekeratne Dilshan has put himself in contention for the Most Valuable Player award following his heroics in the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup Group 'A' match against Zimbabwe at the Pallekele International Stadium.

The dashing right hand opening batsman hammered a magnificent 144 runs from 131 deliveries inclusive of one six and 16 boundaries and followed it up with a four wicket haul including two wickets in successive deliveries.

As a result Dilshan has moved into the second place of the Most Valuable Player rankings with a tally of 471 points to his credit. He has so far accumulated a total of 283 runs at a strike rate of 101.4. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is currently on top of the list in the Most Valuable Player rankings with a tally of 552 points.

He has scored only 60 runs so far in the tournament at a strike rate of 142.9 but has performed extremely well with the ball to claim a total of 15 wickets which is the highest by a player in the 14 nation tournament so far.

India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag who is the leading run getter so far in the tournament with a tally of 327 runs at a strike rate of 125.3 is placed third in the Most Valuable Player rankings.

South Africa's middle order batsman A. B. de Villiers occupies the fourth place with a ranking of 415 points followed by two Indians Sachin Tendulkar (384) and Yuvraj Singh (351).

CD