COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Canterbury: CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE: Somerset 380 & 138-3, Kent 372 Somerset 7pts, Kent 7pts Match scorecard
Marcus Trescothick hit eight fours in his unbeaten 61
Somerset will be looking for quick runs on the final morning to set up a bid for victory over Kent and sustain their push towards the top of Division One.
They closed day three at Canterbury on 138-3, a lead of 146, with Marcus Trescothick unbeaten on 61.
Earlier, Geraint Jones hit the highest first-class score of his career to ensure Kent gave away a first-innings lead of just eight runs.
Jones was last man out for 178 as the home side were dismissed for 372.
Kent had added just one to their overnight 175-3 when Martin van Jaarsveld was trapped lbw by Ben Phillips (5-72).
Darren Stevens (33) joined Jones for a stand of 55, but when he was spectacularly caught and bowled by Peter Trego it began a slide that saw Kent lose four wickets for 29 runs.
Kent were taken to near parity by Jones, who farmed the strike in a stand of 90 with Amjad Khan before the number 10 fell lbw to Murali Kartik and the former England man was similarly undone by an Alfonso Thomas yorker.
Somerset openers Trescothick and Arul Suppiah (28) added 78, only for the visitors to lose three wickets for 18 runs, all to the off-spin of James Tredwell (3-41).
But James Hildreth (27 not out) joined his captain to ensure that there was no further drama before the close, which came with the game finely poised.
Kent's Geraint Jones told BBC Radio Kent:
"It felt fantastic, I had to rebuild the innings in the morning after being 49 overnight and see where it took me. I was fortunate enough to have a bit of fun at the end.
"Amjad Khan batted fantastically, we put on 90 in fairly quick time. I felt great out there, and getting my highest score is great.
"Amjad got a bit of stick in the dressing-room for raising his bat to the crowd after just getting 11, but in a way it was justified, he played a very important role.
"Towards the end of my innings I felt at ease and still and almost able to hit the ball where I wanted - you don't get that very often."
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