Clever Boys foil Chiefs’ plan
At Bidvest Stadium
● Kaizer Chiefs missed out on a chance to close the ballooning gap between them and log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns when they were held to a 1-1 draw by resurgent defending champions Bidvest Wits at a wet Bidvest Stadium last night.
Chiefs gained the same result against the Clever Boys in September but yesterday’s outcome could prove too costly for Amakhosi as it could hinder their aims of catching Sundowns, who are now seven points ahead of them with 10 matches to go.
It took only one shot on target in the first 45 minutes for Chiefs to get their goal, Ryan Moon heading in his third goal of the season off Siphiwe Tshabalala’s cross.
Amakhosi took advantage of Wits’ disorientated defence after centreback Denis Weidlich was stretchered off the field.
Tshabalala found the ball and acres of space on the left and Wits midfielder Edwin Gyimah allowed him to cross for Moon, who is now Chiefs’ leading scorer alongside Gustavo Paez and Tshabalala.
Wits fully deserved their point which came through former Chiefs striker Lehlohonolo Majoro’s header in the 54th minute. The home team could have gained all the spoils as they dominated possession and created better scoring chances in both halves.
Gavin Hunt’s side had to come from behind after allowing Chiefs to take the lead against the run of play in the 40th minute.
Hunt gave his counterpart Steve Komphela a taste of his own medicine, deploying a 3-5-2 system similar to Chiefs that had Bafana Bafana defenders Sifiso Hlanti and captain Thulani Hlatshwayo operating as the roving wingbacks.
The main difference was that Wits had a slick and clever playmaker in Daylon Claasen who coordinated their moves in the middle of the park while Chiefs had no such movement going forward, with George Maluleke forced to defend all the time.
Chiefs came to this match boasting a six match unbeaten run, stretching from midDecember, in which they won four and drew two, including last weekend’s 0-0 stalemate with pacesetters Mamelodi Sundowns.
With the suspension of central defender Teenage Hadebe, Komphela was forced to bring Eric Mathoho into the starting line-up while Venezuelan striker Paez was the other change from last week’s line-up, taking Dumisani Zuma’s place.
Surprisingly, Komphela continued to frustrate Amakhosi fans by keeping former Sundowns striker Leonardo Castro and midfielder Siphelele Ntshangase as impact players on the Chiefs bench, despite good performances recently.
Castro scored a winner in his Chiefs debut away to Baroka FC before their home match against Sundowns, benefiting from Ntshangase’s pass.
When the two players came on again last night Chiefs started to create chances with some resolve, and Ntshangase should have delivered the winner late in the match when he found himself one-on-one with Wits keeper Darren Keet.
Before meeting Chiefs the Clever Boys had picked up 10 points from a possible 12 in four matches in January, their only loss coming at home against Free State Stars right at the beginning of January.
Their 4-1 demolition of SuperSport United away from home last weekend demonstrated their recovery and resolve to move away from the relegation zone.
Buoyed by that result, Hunt made only one change in his starting side, bringing on defender Buhle Mkhwanazi in the place of winger Vincent Pule. pan to the Pretoria fire as India hold a crucial 1-0 lead in the six-match series.
India captain Virat Kohli has played an indirect role in eliminating two of South Africa’s crack limited-overs batsmen from a series he’s desperate to win.
AB De Villiers, who should be back for Saturday’s fourth ODI, mangled his digit when he took a sharp catch off Kohli in the first innings of the infamous Wanderers test. Du Plessis broke his finger when he dropped Kohli on nought on Thursday.
Markram said he’ll move up to number three, placing pressure on JP Duminy to get the best out of the middle-order.
Farhaan Behardien returned to the squad and is probably the best bet to slot in at number five where he should be separating southpaws Duminy and David Miller. They struggled against Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal (20-0-79-5).
A more audacious decision would be to give Zondo or Heinrich Klaasen a debut in the pressurised cauldron of chasing a series.
“It would make sense for me to go to number three having spent most of my career opening. From three onwards, we’re not 100% sure and that selection meeting still needs to take place but it would make sense for me to move to first drop because there’s plenty of experience in David and JP,” Markram said.
“I don’t necessarily see the spin issue as a problem. It was just one game and I believe our middle-order has quality batsmen. It’s about taking responsibility even though we’ve had to adjust our game plans. I don’t think there’s a need to adjust the batting line-up.
“Players need to develop nice and strong game plans.”