LED by swashbuckling undefeated 76 from Richard Driffield, defending champions GTA Storm made a triumphant start to the 2025 season when the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Over-50 tournament got underway last Saturday in Toronto, Canada.

The elegant left-handed Driffield, who ended the 2024 season with back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in both the Canada Cup and OMSCC final, continued from where he left off, smashing five fours and seven sixes from 42 balls on a somewhat wintry afternoon at the Dean Park ground.

Driffield, who entered the fray following the dismissal of Surendra Persaud off the first ball of the innings, delivered by Daron Mahase, was there at the end as GTA Storm achieved victory in 14.4 overs after limiting the newcomers to 109 for four in their allotted 20 overs.
The seasoned campaigner dominated a second wicket stand of 104 with Jito Narine’s whose contribution was a valuable 21. Mahase ended with one for 26 from his three overs while Rajesh Singh took the other wicket while conceding 27 runs.

Earlier, Warriors never recovered from a slow start despite a fighting 32 from Over-50 debutant, Rovendra Mandolall, a former Guyana Under-19 player, who struck one four and two sixes. Deochand Ram supported with 28 (one four and two sixes).

Bowling for GTA Storm, Orlando Deonarine claimed two for eight, skipper Troy Gobin one for 16 and Surendra Persaud one for 22.
GTA Stom will clash with Canadian Legends in their next fixture this Saturday at Littles.