Canon De Saram Trophy Encounter 2021 Trinity to lock horns with Thomians

By Shamseer Jaleel

Trinity College and S. Thomas’ College will lock horns in the Canon De Saram Shield 2021 Encounter which will take place at Havelock Park today. Kick-off is scheduled at 4:15 p.m.

Trinity is led by Tehan Karunanayake, one of the best scrum half players from the junior level onwards who has shown his leadership qualities beyond doubt. The Lions outfit looks formidable with some outstanding players such as Ravindu Wickremasinghe, Thidas Thantirige, Minindu Jayasundera and Lithmal Moragoda in the outfit. 

They beat Sri Sumangala 47/14 and Dharmaraja 42/0 in their two encounters. In the Sevens they won the Central Province Sevens beating Kingswood. They are also the defending All-Island Schools champions which they won under Reshan Bandaranayake at Pallekele in 2019.

The Thomian outfit did not play in any games this season (2021). They are led by pack leader Lashendra de Silva with some outstanding players in the side as Dunal Fernando, Owin Hettiarachchi, Adhil Cader, Janidu Thilakaratne and Avindha Rekawa. Ovin will be a major threat as he is a fast runner. 

A special feature in the Thomian outfit is that three former Trinitians’ sons are part of the Mount Lavinia school team. They are the sons of Kanchana Ratwatte (1986), Dinesh Perera (1991 cricket) and Anuradha Rekawa (1988 athletics, rugby).

Both schools started playing in 1955 though the trophy came into play in 1978. The highest win of the series is by Trinity who under Murad Ramzeen won 75/6. The Thomians’ best win was in 2010 when they won 40/30 led by Rajindra Gunasekera. 

In the Canon De Saram series, out of the 42 matches played Trinity are leading with 25 wins to the Thomians’ 17. Overall from the year 1955 out of the 67 matches played Trinity lead 39-26 with two games ending in a tie. There were no fixtures in 1971 and 2020.

Teams 

Trinity: Kaveesha Amarasekera, Dulara Alawattegama, Kaveesha Edama, Ruvishan Pananwala, Bawantha Dharmapala, Asiri Kodituwakku, Kaveen Wijesena, Thidas Thanthirige, Tehan Karunanayake (Captain), Thanuditha Dodanwatte, Rahman Kaleel, Tevin Karunanayake, Lithmal Moragoda, Minidu Jayasundera, Ravindu Wickremasinghe. Substitutes: Shehan Zakeer, Loshika Wijekoon, Shehan Priyankara, Jayageeth Basnayake, Chamendra Dhanapala, Shabith Rasheed, Sheveen Premaratne, Aatab Mansil, Ashen Wijesooriya and Upek Gammudali 

S. Thomas: D.N.D. Yapa, J.C.D. Thilakaratne, C.M. Ratwatte, S.N. Samarakody, D.N. Fernando, S.D. Fernando, C.R.R. Kurukulasuriya, L.D. de Silva (Captain), N.S.S. Perera (Vice Captain), Y.B.P. Bulathsinhalage, J.H. Kock, O.A. Hettiarachchi, V.A.R. de Silva, A. Perera, A.B. Rekawa, A.A. Cader, J.A. Bulathsinghala, J.K.S. Fernando, J.J. Martynstein, M.A.M. Ali, N.M.M. Perera, S.K. Selvanayagam, R.S. Wickremasuriya, R.K.N.H. Ramanayake, and A.J. Noah 

Referee: Isuru Perera