5 Things: Big batting, strong debuts and knockout scenarios

Here are five things we learned from Sunday's matches at the Cricket World Cup:

1. Glenn Maxwell, batting revolutionary

South Africa's AB de Villiers and India's Virat Kohli might be fighting for overall batting supremacy in ODI cricket, but both players have their batting foundations rooted in orthodox technique. Depending on the situation, de Villiers will exercise his creative license to toy with bowlers by shifting back and forth across the crease and taking advantage of the field settings with his shots.

Australia's Glenn Maxwell bats like a madman regardless of the situation. His mind-bending shot selection is changing the way people are thinking about how to bat. What was once foolish and risky now looks intelligent and safe. Two years ago, the Mumbai Indians were laughed at for bidding $1 million for Maxwell at the Indian Premier League auction, but his exploits over the past year are no joke. He may have posted his first century for Australia in their win against Sri Lanka on Sunday, but the 26-year-old is on his way to becoming one of the sport's next megastars.

2. Kumar Sangakkara ... please don't go!

Sri Lanka's beacon of light continues to shine as brightly as ever. On Sunday night, Sangakkara became the first player in Cricket World Cup history to score a hundred in three straight matches and now leads the tournament with 372 runs, 54 ahead of de Villiers.

Sangakkara has already announced he will retire from ODIs after the Cup and play in Tests only through the end of this summer. At 37, his body might be telling him the time is right, but his stats are screaming for him to stay on a few more years. He only has to look at the uninterrupted scoring dominance of a pair of 40-year-olds -- the West Indies' Shiv Chanderpaul and Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq -- for inspiration.

3. Brendon McCullum, opening menace

New Zealand's captain has been ruthless to opposition bowling attacks all tournament long. While most teams' strategic approach has shifted in recent years to have their biggest bashers stationed at sixth or seventh to stage a final assault in the last 10 overs, McCullum continues to instill intimidation with his presence at the crease in the first over.

After the Kiwis' win against Afghanistan on Sunday, McCullum is currently 14th on the tournament scoring list, but is third overall for most fours with 34 (behind Sangakkara and Sri Lankan teammate Tillakaratne Dilshan) and most sixes with 12 (behind de Villiers and West Indies' Chris Gayle). McCullum has hit a ball to the boundary on 35.7 percent of the deliveries he's faced so far in this tournament, or about one of every three balls. Gayle's pace is 12.8 percent, or about one of every eight balls.

4. Afghanistan almost there

Afghanistan's bowling attack has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of this tournament. From an aesthetic standpoint, Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan have won over anyone who has seen them charge the crease to bowl fast and celebrate with passion.

Their team might have scored one or two more wins if it could have produced stronger batting performances. The most glaring weakness has been at the top of the order. Afghanistan have been averaging 12 runs per innings from their openers, and the result is a struggle to constantly dig out of a whole. Mohammad Shahzad, Afghanistan's best opener for the past five years, is sitting out due to fitness issues. If he can fight his way back into the team after the Cricket World Cup, Afghanistan will have a fearless striker capable of making big teams uncomfortable, not to mention a scorer to take pressure off Samiullah Shenwari in the middle order. Beyond them, one other batsman needs to be developed to give Afghanistan a platform their bowlers can defend. Only then can they hope to advance far in major tournaments.

5. Jockeying for knockout-round position

The scenarios for Pool B present some interesting quirks.

Assuming Ireland loses to India on Tuesday and West Indies beats UAE next Sunday, it will leave Ireland, Pakistan and West Indies all even on six points with West Indies having completed its matches, but Ireland and Pakistan still to play each other next Sunday.

If West Indies scores 300 and bowls out UAE for 218 (UAE's average score), West Indies would move above Pakistan and Ireland on the net run rate tiebreaker, guaranteeing West Indies fourth place. The loser of the Ireland-Pakistan match will most likely finish fifth and be eliminated, while the winner would most likely finish in third on eight points if South Africa beats UAE on Thursday, as expected.

If that South Africa-UAE matchup is rained out (the current forecast in Wellington is calling for rain), they will only claim one point instead of two and finish on seven points. If that happens, South Africa would face tournament co-hosts Australia in Adelaide for a difficult quarterfinal, while the Ireland-Pakistan winner would play against Sri Lanka in Sydney. Though the atmosphere there will likely be a raucous pro-Sri Lankan crowd making for a virtual home game, Sri Lanka's bowling attack is far weaker than Australia's, which could clear a path for Ireland or Pakistan to advance to the semifinals.