Lancashire 109 & 423-7 v Somerset 278

CENTURIES from Alex Davies and Liam Livingstone helped hosts Lancashire into a 254-run lead after day three at Old Trafford.

Somerset had led by 169 after each side's first innings, and had their opponents at 23-2 in their second, but Davies and Livingstone inspired their team to turn things around.

Eventually the visitors made the breakthrough as Lewis Gregory removed opener Davies (lbw) for 130, breaking the latter's 245-run partnership with Livingstone.

Stand-in captain Livingstone eventually went for a mammoth 168, done by the left-arm spin of Jack Leach, Dean Elgar making the catch.

Two wickets in an over from Craig Overton helped Somerset's cause further as he trapped Rob Jones lbw for 35 and then saw off Dean Villas the same way for no score.

Jordan Clark was then stumped off Leach for five, but those five wickets were as good as it got for Somerset, as Ryan McLaren (34*) and Stephen Parry (22*) survived to the end of the day's play.

That means the pressure is in Somerset to pick up quick wickets and improve with the bat on the final day if they are to claim their first County Championship victory of 2017.