DDCA: North Dandenong coach David Bell has sung the praises of star opener Jawid Khan

North Dandenong coach David Bell wasn’t short of praise for his star opener but is hopeful his side won’t settle for the performance they produced on Saturday.

North Dandenong coach David Bell declared Jawid Khan’s innings on Saturday as exactly what his side needed to kick start its season.

Khan’s 100 was the only score above 22 for the Maroons, who clawed their way past Beaconsfield’s 10-175.

Bell said the Maroons were crying out for a big score to avoid going into round 6 without a win.

“That’s exactly what we were after – that is the innings we’ve been lacking,” he said.

“He’s been working pretty hard, hitting a lot of balls.

“It had to be a win, we had no choice, it had to be a win.

“You can’t get to round 6 and been without a win, that wouldn’t have been great.”

Jawid Khan walks off the ground. Pictures: SUPPLIED

North Dandenong is on the board.

Bell said Khan set the standard for North Dandenong but hoped his teammates weren’t treating the win as a perfect performance.

“He’s massive for us, if he’s up and going, hopefully he can drag a few with him,” he said.

“He’s set the standard, a lot of the other guys have to live up to that now because even though we won and he had that sort of innings, we still played a pretty poor game with the bat.”

Buckley Ridges, meanwhile, chased Narre South’s total of 167 down with one wicket to spare before being bowled out the very next ball.

Former Bucks skipper Ben Wright crunched 61 in the tight run chase while Alex Cruickshank jagged 4-36 for Narre South.

Half centuries from Jake Hancock (81) and Jordan Cleland (69) gave Berwick hope in its monster chase against Springvale South, but had no other teammates go with them.

Hancock and Cleland were the only Bears to make more than 13 as they fell 122 runs short of the Bloods.

Hallam Kalora Park did its best to claim an outright victory over St Marys but were denied by the plucky Saints on day two.

The Hawks declared 46 runs ahead with 25 overs left in the day and had the Saints 1-0, but Susantha Hewage (16 not out from 45 balls) and Michael Dudley (8 not out from 43 balls) saw off the late onslaught.