A career-best 168 from Liam Livingstone has given Lancashire a chance of pulling off an unlikely victory on the final day of their Championship clash with Somerset at Old Trafford.
The stand-in skipper shared a mammoth 245-run partnership with Alex Davies, who hit his second ton of the season and his first on home soil to take the hosts to a strong position after they were dismantled for 109 in their first innings.
Livingstone later shared 86 runs with Rob Jones (35), but when both batsman fell in a mini collapse of four wickets for 25 runs either side of tea, it took a sturdy stand from Ryan McLaren (34*) and Stephen Parry (22*) to hold the innings together and steer Lancashire to close on 423/7 with a reasonable lead of 254.
The overnight pairing of Davies and Livingstone had already added 129 before the end of the second day, with Lancashire stumbling to 32/2 when they came together. By lunch they had taken their partnership 235 with both batsmen achieving centuries in a vital morning session for the Red Rose.
For Davies it was his second century of the summer and another crucial contribution after Haseeb Hameed made another single-figure score, while Livingstone's maturity from the first innings was on show once again, as he thrived with the responsibility of playing a captain's innings.
The 150-partnership helped Lancashire to overturn Somerset's first-innings lead 169 runs, as both Davies and Livingstone continued to score freely against the seamers. Davies started the day 22 runs shy of his first hundred at Old Trafford, having been dismissed for 99 in 2015 against Kent.
Although Livingstone scored marginally quicker, it was the wicketkeeper-batsman who reached three figures first in 218 balls with 13 fours. It was not long before Livingstone made his case for international selection with a brilliant hundred and his first as Lancashire captain.
Not content with sneaking a quick single, Livingstone pulled off a trademark shot on one leg, whipping the ball over the mid-wicket boundary to bring up a century in 192 balls with his second six. Lancashire went to lunch in a healthy position on 258/2, with Davies and Livingstone hoping to kick on and extend the lead further, but Somerset had other ideas as Lewis Gregory had Davies trapped lbw for 130.
With a partnership of 245 runs at an end, it was down to Jones to support Livingstone in a bid to steer Lancashire towards safety. Livingstone reached a career-best score - beating the 140 not out he made for England Lions over the winter - in sharing a strong stand of 86 with Jones, who was looking to prove himself after shouldering arms and falling without scoring in the first innings.
He hit five boundaries in a guided and calculated innings, with Livingstone reaching his 150 in 279 balls with his 18th boundary. The partnership looked as though it would last until tea, but two very important breakthroughs came before the break in one over from Craig Overton (2-87).
Jones was wrapped on the pads by the towering paceman for 35 and Dane Vilas fell in the same manner three balls later without scoring, as Lancashire lost a batch of wickets to restore balance to the match.
Livingstone will have been disappointed to fall soon after tea, becoming the third wicket to fall for just five runs, as he advanced and skied Jack Leach straight to Dean Elgar at mid-off, falling for a brilliant 168 at 360/6. McLaren and Jordan Clark adopted a watchful approach to help Lancashire rebuild after the flurry of wickets either side of tea, putting on 19 runs in just under 12 overs before a rush of blood to the head cost Clark his wicket.
The all-rounder jumped down the wicket to Leach (2-88) and was stumped for 5, leaving McLaren and Parry with the task of holding the innings together and building a stronger lead. Whether Lancashire intend to go after victory tomorrow is unclear, but with the threat of rain before lunch on the final day, an unbroken stand of 44 runs from the eighth-wicket pair represented huge relief for the home dressing room.
McLaren and Parry batted a further 18 over without ever looking to be in any real danger from Somerset, with one or two half-hearted lbw appeals from Gregory. Lancashire closed on 423/7 with a lead of 254 runs, with the possibility of rain helping the home side's prospects of saving a draw after their collapse on the opening day, while Somerset will hope the rain stays away and a final-day run chase is on the cards.
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