A NEW champion will be crowned on Saturday when the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Club (OMSCC) stages the Legends Over-50 final at the St Bede ground in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.
After easily topping the 2026 regular season chart, with just a single defeat at the hands of Dirty Dozen, defending champions Warriors suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the evergreen Toronto Blizzards while two-time winners GTA Storm made light work of Ramblers Rampage in last Saturday’s semi-finals, played at the St Bede and Littles ground in Scarborough, Ontario.
The victory by Toronto Blizzards means they will be contesting a record eighth consecutive final despite winning their last title in 2022.
Both GTA Storm and Toronto Blizzards, led Shiv Seeram and Troy Gobin respectively will undoubtedly have a score to settle in the shortened 2026 season which saw each side sharing the spoils with Toronto Blizzards winning the first encounter at Dean Park and GTA Storm bouncing back to take top honours in a low scoring affair at Littles Park.
The latter saw GTA Storm being bowled out for a paltry 108 but stunned their opponents who were dismissed for a paltry 91.
Both teams are stacked with seasoned contenders with Gobin leading the fray for GTA Storm which will also have the likes of vice-captain Richard Driffield, Ian “Russian” Baldeo, Suren Persaud and opener Parbhu Balkarran who has had a fine debut season, culminating with a fine unbeaten half-century versus Ramblers Rampage last Saturday.
Always fierce competitors, Toronto Blizzards will lean heavily on veteran opener Sunil Dhaniram, the division leading scorer who on his day is capable of destroying any opponents’ attack.
Skipper Seeram has been a shadow of himself in this year’s tournament but his experience could also be a factor in the final. Coupled with that, Toronto Blizzards also include the other experienced trio of Jaimini Singh, Jesh Parasnauth and Mohan Harihar.
Meanwhile, Better Hope who upstaged Car Tec in last year’s Over-40 final to claim the Over-40 title, after finishing fourth in the regular season, are set to defend their crown against Canadian Legends who sent Car Tec packing in a contentious super over semi-final contest last Sunday. Better Hope, led by Sunil Ramkissoon, took care of Ramblers to ensure their place in Sunday’s final which will also be played at St Bede.
The Over-60, which was introduced for the first time this season, will see overwhelming favourites Dirty Dozen clashing with Littles Sports Club at Littles Park on Sunday. Dirty Dozen defeated Friendship Masters while Littles won from KC Stalwart in last Sunday’s semi-finals in the four-team contest. (Frederick Halley)
