HEATHER Knight moved to the top of the scoring charts and Western Storm to the Kia Super League summit, as she led her side to a nervy three-wicket victory away to Southern Vipers on Sunday.

Storm and England skipper Knight has scored 129 runs in the KSL so far, adding 71 with Indian superstar Smriti Mandhana for the second wicket here.

Fran Wilson's impeccable 40 off 30 balls then Storm above Vipers and Surrey Stars to the top of the table.

Both sides had come into the clash unbeaten in their opening two KSL fixtures but Storm’s powerful batting line-up proved too strong in front of an almost 1,500-strong crowd at the Ageas Bowl.

Stefanie Taylor (44no), Tammy Beaumont (37) and Suzie Bates (33) had taken Vipers to 142-5, on the same pitch Somerset had smashed 202 on in the Vitality Blast on Friday night.

In reply, Rachel Priest square cut Lauren Bell to the boundary before the fast bowler exacted her revenge by flattening the New Zealander’s leg-stump with an in-swinger next ball.

Storm motored in the third over as Smriti Mandhana’s three boundaries helped take 16 runs off Bell, before Heather Knight slog-swept Taylor for six.

Mandhana (30) and Knight (38) cruised past a fifty partnership, from just 32 balls, but then Tash Tarrant dismissed both to swing the game open again.

But Sophie Luff (24) and Wilson, who eased the pressure with a straight maximum, intelligently ticked off 58 of the remaining 66 runs before the former offered a simple catch to mid-off and Deepti Sharma was run out.

With two needed off the last over, Wilson was lbw and Anya Shrubsole lbw to Bate,s before Sonia Odedra tip-toed Storm over the line with a ball to spare.

Wilson said afterwards: "It was a little nervier at the end but that is just T20 cricket, it just ebbs and flows.

“I probably should have been more clinical at the end but I’m just happy to get the team as close as I did.

“I’m really happy with my strike rates at the moment and feel like I’m hitting the balls nicely.

“We are really lucky to have some experienced and reliable batters at the top of the order and they are all explosive as well.

“We probably hadn’t hit the levels we would have liked to with our bowling and fielding yet but today was close as we have been.

“We go out trying to win every game, but also in the right way.

"We are really happy with where we are but still aware there are plenty of games to go and keeping our momentum.”

Western Storm host Loughborough Lightning tomorrow (Tuesday, 2.30pm) at the Brightside Ground in Bristol.