Ambrose and Clarke give Warwickshire slight edge.

Lancashire fought their way back into contention in the afternoon session.

The draw looks the most likely result heading into the final day of Lancashire’s visit to Warwickshire after they closed with a lead of just 48 runs and eight second-innings wickets still intact.

Lancashire finished the third day on 84-2, as they overturned Warwickshire’s first innings lead of 36 runs inside five overs, but the loss of both openers left the final day open for a surprise result.

A 97-run stand between Tim Ambrose (62) and Rikki Clarke (56) guided the hosts towards this lead before Keith Barker added an unbeaten 44 as Warwickshire reached 322.

William Porterfield (57) had been the source of much frustration for the Lancashire bowlers yesterday, but it didn’t take long for Tom Smith to find an edge, with Andrea Agathangelou taking a good catch at gully.

After a spell of turgid batting, Ambrose and Clarke were able to compensate as they injected a sense of purpose into Warwickshire’s first innings with confident stroke play, finding the boundary at regular intervals.

Having claimed the wicket of Porterfield, who had batted for nearly five hours, Lancashire would have liked to make further progress, but the stand between Ambrose and Clarke saw Warwickshire to lunch without losing another wicket.

At 234-5, Warwickshire had batted their way into a commanding position, but the afternoon session restored balance to the match as Lancashire claimed the last five wickets for 83 runs.

After lunch the pairing of Ambrose and Clarke was broken with the sixth-wicket valued at 97 runs. An 84-ball fifty from Ambrose gave the hosts the edge before the interval, but the wicketkeeper was soon trapped in front of middle stump and was out lbw to Kyle Hogg (3-56).

Clarke followed the example of his predecessor and reached his half-century in 101 balls, but was out four balls after reaching this milestone when he was bowled by Simon Kerrigan (2-104), attempting a sweep shot off the leg-spinner.

Having lost two wickets for 14 runs, Warwickshire were no longer guaranteed to surpass Lancashire’s total of 286, but the efforts of Barker ensured that they would achieve what turned out to be a fleeting lead of 36 runs.

Barker received support from Jeetan Patel (11) and Boyd Rankin (12) before Smith continued a fine all-round display by removing the latter, as he finished with figures of 3-50.

It took Paul Horton (42) and Alex Davies (30) just 24 deliveries to eliminate the deficit as the Lancashire openers played with confidence either side of a rain delay in Birmingham.

When play resumed, just 16 overs remained, but this was enough time for Warwickshire to claim two wickets to give them the strongest cause for victory heading into the final day.

The first was that of Davies who continues to occupy the role of opening batsman with assurance despite his tender age, but demonstrated his inexperience when he left a straight delivery from Patel and was out lbw.

Horton soon followed when he edged behind off Rankin to give Ambrose his 450^th first-class dismissal and the visitors closed on 84-2, with Agathangelou and Kerrigan unbeaten on 7 and 1 respectively.