LED by a brilliant undefeated 69 from Richard Driffield, defending champions GTA Storm trounced archrivals Toronto Blizzards by four wickets in the penultimate round of the 2025 Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Over-50 tournament last Saturday at Littles Park, Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.

The elegant left-hander’s rescue act was similar to his captain, Troy Gobin who stroked 72 not out the previous weekend when his team was in dire straits against Warriors.
Set 155 for victory, after Toronto Blizzards were limited to 154 for seven in their allotted 20 overs on a sunlit Saturday afternoon, Driffield was pivotal in GTA Storm achieving the required target in 17.1 overs.

Driffield, who ended the 2024 season with back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in both the Canada Cup and OMSCC final, entered the fray in the fourth over with the score on 23 following the run out of makeshift opener Rudy Bhopaul for nine.
He then saw Ian Baldeo (18) departing with the score on 38, former Guyana Under-19 player Zaheer Haniff (seven) at 45, Ken Itwaru (three) at 48 and skipper Troy Gobin (one) with the scoreboard reading 53 for five after seven overs.

Driffield, who started off slowly, changed gears, dominating two important partnerships, adding 50 for the sixth wicket with Orlando Deonarine whose contribution was 11 and an undefeated 55 with Suren Persaud (18 with one four and a six) as GTA Storm eased to victory in 17.1 overs. Driffield’s unbeaten 69 was laced with seven fours and four huge sixes.
Bowling for Toronto Blizzards, Fazil Shakoor claimed two for 31 and Jaimini Singh two for 36.

Despite scoring 99 in the last 10 overs of their innings, after winning the toss and opting to take first strike, Toronto Blizzards eventual total hinged on their first 10 overs which saw the normally prolific Sunil Dhaniram struggling despite hitting 41 with two fours and three sixes.

The experienced Jaimini Singh, bolstered the middle-order with a top score of 43 which contained two fours and four sixes while captain Mohan Harihar supported with 23 (three fours). There were two wickets each for Jerry Brittania and Suren Persaud for 16 and 17 runs respectively.
The victory marked GTA Storm second over Toronto Blizzards for the season.

The final preliminary round matches of the 2025 season are set for Saturday, August 9 following a break for the Caribana holiday weekend. GTA Storm will oppose Canadian Legends, the only team they have lost to this season, at Dean Park; KC Stalwarts and Ramblers Rampage meet at Lester Pearson, Remax All Stars and Friendship battle at Littles Park Diamond and Warriors and Toronto Blizzards clash at Littles Field.