Falconer flying high in star trio's absence

Darcie Brown, Megan Schutt and Tahlia McGrath.

It's a fast-bowling trio the South Australian Scorpions could seemingly not afford to miss during this Women's National Cricket League campaign, but it has been their reality while the Women's World Cup has run alongside the majority of the season.

Throw leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington onto the absentees list, who is also in New Zealand with the Aussie squad, and the Scorpions' bowling attack was decimated ahead of a tough campaign that would see them on the road for more than three weeks.

However, that hasn’t stopped them reaching Sunday's final against the Tasmanian Tigers, with fast bowler Ellie Falconer leading her side to a top-two finish.

The right-arm quick has taken 14 wickets for the season, the second most in the competition, and says she's relished the opportunity provided by the absence of the state's star quartet.

"It's nice to contribute," she said.

"We're obviously missing a few of our strike bowlers … so it's nice, but I think all bowlers across the board have helped out and contributed throughout all games.

"I guess at the start (of the tournament), you think with Wello out as well, there's four of South Australia's best players gone. But we have complete faith and trust in all the other girls in the team.

"We knew that if we all put our best performances out there, we would be good enough on the day. We have enough belief in the other girls and the 11 that are out there that we can do a good enough job."

The absence of McGrath and Schutt especially, who Falconer says were following along on Tuesday as the Queensland Fire defeated NSW to seal SA's place in the final, has made for a relatively inexperienced side throughout the whole season.

It makes the path to the decider even more significant for the 22-year-old, who hails from Clare, almost 150km north of Adelaide, having come through SA's pathway programs from a young age.

She says it has been an amazing achievement to have been a part of the progression of her home state's program.

"It'll be really special," she said.

"Since I've been around the SA group, we haven't been in contention for the final. So to finally be up there, I think it just shows all the work that we've put in over the years (has paid off).

"All the work the coaching staff have put in and SACA as a whole to recruit some really good girls and the trust put in our pathways and the girls coming through, it's been really nice.

"Hopefully we can go all the way and just us being in the final is a good reward for the work that the Scorpions have put in over those years."

Tasmania's top-order, consisting of the experienced Rachel Priest and Elyse Villani as well as young gun Emma Manix-Geeves, has been pivotal to their success this season, with Falconer wary of the threat the Tigers' batting line-up will pose on Sunday.

"I think it'll be a good challenge between bat and ball; I know that Priest was one of the highest run scorers in the comp this year and Villani has obviously shown game after game that she can score big totals," she said.

"Early wickets will be key."

It's been a bizarre season for Falconer and her Scorpions teammates who, after the completion of the Weber WBBL in November, hardly played any cricket until late February due to border restrictions.

But it's this late start to the season that Falconer says has driven her side, knowing they'd have to take every opportunity in front of them to make the most of another year interrupted by COVID-19.

"Thankfully we had Big Bash towards the end of October and late November, so we at least got a few games in," she said.

"But for the girls who didn't get to play Big Bash, it's been a long, long pre-season.

"We started at the start of June and then going all the way through into Feb, it's been a long time and a lot of training.

"We're really thankful to get these games underway and to get majority of them played. We had a few rain delays and a few games that we missed out (on) because of the rain. But to have the opportunity to get all eight games on the park, we are really fortunate for that."

The Scorpions will fly into Hobart today for Sunday's match at Blundstone Arena, moved from its original schedule of Friday to allow the Tigers to host the match.