Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow has called on his side to show their battling qualities on the final day against Somerset in the LV=County Championship.

This is after the Tykes lost three late wickets at Taunton to put themselves into a difficult position ahead of day four in the South-West.

Things appeared to be going their way for long parts, until Joe Root, Gary Ballance and Steve Patterson all fell in the last seven overs to leave them on 249 for six at the close – a lead of just 155 runs.

“To lose those wickets was obviously unfortunate,” admitted Bairstow, who is on 80 not-out.

“We have to come back and fight hard though. Every wicket is important and we are looking forward to the challenge. We still have lots of batting to come and we are by no means out of this game.”

This might be the case, but for most of the day it looked like it would be Yorkshire who would be heading into day four holding all the cards.

A spirited bowling display saw them dismiss Somerset for 452, with Bradford-born Adil Rashid ending with four wickets, before the Tykes top order quickly set about rebalancing the first-innings deficit of 94 runs.

Adam Lyth, for 14, and Bradfordian Anthony McGrath, for four, were ousted early, but captain Andrew Gale soon joined Root at the crease to haul the Tykes back into the contest.

By the time the partnership was broken, when Gale was trapped lbw by Peter Trego for 50, the Tykes were building a lead themselves at 117 for three. This optimism continued to grow with Bairstow now in the middle with Root, as the two youngsters serenely added 107 runs for the fourth wicket to put Yorkshire in control of the game.

At this stage the lead was at 130, with the Tykes having seven wickets in hand, before Root was clean bowled by Lewis Gregory to provide the catalyst for the collapse that could yet be so costly.

His disappointment as he trudged off for 67 was obvious to see, with a maiden first-class century looking possible, but what followed was much worse for his team in a later than expected close thanks to early morning rain.

Part-time spinner Arul Suppiah did the damage – with two wickets in three balls to remove Ballance, for seven, and Patterson, for nought, to leave the Tykes well behind the eight-ball.