County Championship: In-form Ed Barnard helps Warwickshire earn first-innings lead over Somerset

In-form Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard maintained his late-season flurry with bat and ball to try and help the Bears engineer a positive result against Somerset.

The Bears go into their final game of this longest-ever English domestic season needing to take eight Somerset wickets quickly, or hope that the visitors try to make a game of this otherwise meaningless match.

After totalling 273 to take a 58-run first-innings lead, thanks largely to 73 from Barnard, he then took two quick wickets before Somerset closed on 90-2 with a lead of 32.

Having resumed on 112-3, the Bears lost three wickets in the morning session.

Dan Mousley was out in the first over without adding to his overnight score, edging to Josh Davey (3-62), before two wickets went down in seven balls.

Alex Davies was leg before wicket to Jack Brooks (2-33), then Neil Wagner struck in the next over to have Michael Burgess caught behind.

Barnard then shared a 93-run stand with Danny Briggs to ease the Bears into a first-innings lead.

But Wagner (3-67) removed both Briggs (38) and Craig Miles in quick succession and Barnard, realising his chances of a first Bears first-class century were receding, went for a big one, which became a skier and he holed out to the safe hands of Lewis Goldsworthy.

Olive Hannon-Dalby was bowled by Lewis Gregory (2-50), to be last man out.

Having turned round with that first-innings deficit, Somerset lost two men in wiping out that advantage, both to England Lions man Barnard.

The first of them came just before tea when the Bears posted three mid-ons of varying width and shortness, sensing Tom Lammonby's penchant for hitting aerial shots on the leg side. And he fell straight into the trap, lofting Barnard straight to the middle of them, Mousley.

Barnard then carried on steaming in after tea to have Goldsworthy caught behind following the resumption.

But Sean Dickson (30*) and regalvanised former Bears and Scotland opener Andy Umeed (20*) dug in before bad light starting making a mess of the Edgbaston playing schedule to force an early close.

Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard:

"I don't know if maybe the captains will have a word but with the positions both teams are in it could just be quite a slow day. We'll just go out there and try to take a few wickets and make things happen.

"Quite a lot of pace came out of the pitch so it is quite hard to score at times but they bowled really well in the first hour to put us under some pressure.

"It was nice for me to bat some time with some of the lads down the order and get some runs. Briggsy came out and played beautifully again, following on from his runs at Lord's last week.

"I have enjoyed the last few weeks and it does feel a little bit like I don't want the season to end. There was a bit of settling in to the first half of the season but I have grown into my role and I've been pleased with how I've played in the second half of the season."

Somerset coach Jason Kerr:

"We were unlucky not to have them four or five down at the close on day two and then the bowlers picked up where they left off.

"They bowled really well and created opportunities and it got harder as the ball got older and softer, but I can't fault them with the ball.

"Then we had to bat well. It was a precarious position, 50-60 behind, so we needed to start well and Lammers and Dicko did that brilliantly.

"The game is quite finely poised and we are going to have to bat well in the first hour. Perhaps we haven't had the rub of the green with some of the decisions in this game, but all teams feel that way sometimes."