Craig Kieswetter lit up Taunton with a career best 153 as Somerset moved into a winning position against Lancashire.

The County Ground was a picture in the late summer sunshine but the view was enhanced further by the wicketkeeper's scintilating strokeplay.

Kieswetter's pyrotechnics enabled stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick - the scorer of a day two century - to declare at tea on 557-8.

Lancashire will begin the final day on 87-2, needing 126 more to make Somerset bat again.

Trescothick's men are chasing second place in Division One of the County Championship  but Kieswetter has a higher prize.

The national selectors are already counting down the days until the South Africa-born 21-year-old qualifies for England next February.

A place on the spring tour of Bangladesh or at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies next May is not completely out of the question.

Kieswetter came in when debutant Jos Buttler was caught behind off Glen Chapple for a promising 30.

The keeper got off the mark with a straight driven two that took him to 1,000 runs for the season for the first time in his three-year career.

Neither pace from Sajid Mahmood or healthy spin from Gary Keedy seemed to trouble him and he was not detered to see Zander de Bruyn literally hopping mad as he edged a wide ball from Kyle Hogg to slip for 71, his second highest score of the campaign.

Kieswetter was soon peppering the shorter boundary on the Somerset Stand side of the ground as he and Pete Trego went about setting a new record sixth wicket stand for Somerset against Lancashire.

The destructive pair's 183 in 35 overs erased the 174 put on by Sammy Woods and John Daniell  here in 1899. Trego eventually chipped Keedy to short fine-leg for 80 after three sixes of his own.

Among his 14 fours, Kieswetter's flat-batted drives through the off side and his crunching pick-up shots through and over midwicket brought great acclaim.

But the 2,000-strong crowd were most excited by his eight sixes, particularly the  five he hit in moving from 100 to 153 in 31 balls.

A rare Kieswetter mishit saw him slice a cut high to deep backward point the next ball and Trescothick declared after David Stiff was caught behind for a duck.

Even then it was impossible to keep Kieswetter out of the game as he held the catches for Somerset's two wickets to bring his tally to eight for the match - one short of the club record of nine which was achieved three times by Rob Turner and on five occasions in total.

First Luke Sutton edged Alfonso Thomas for 16 before Paul Horton failed to repeat his first innings century by wafting at a wide ball from Stiff for 32.

For Lancashire, much will depend on India Test star VVS Laxman, who will resume day four on 16 not out.

For further details see the next edition of the Evening Post or Western Daily Press.