The Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo has a reputation of favouring the chasers. This was probably what prompted Shaun Pollock to put the West Indies in after he won the toss. With the ball in hand, the South African captain, then, went on to underline the soundness of his decision by bowling an impeccable first spell in which he beat the two West Indian openers - Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul - on numerous occasions.