Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray come good to give Great Britain the advantage in Davis Cup clash with Canada

Britain take a 2-1 advantage into Sunday's programme after Inglot and Murray got the better of Canada's Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil

Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray won Britain's Davis Cup doubles encounter against Canada (Getty)

Dom Inglot emerged from the Davis Cup shadows to inspire Great Britain to the brink of victory over Canada in Ottawa.

Inglot and Jamie Murray defeated Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/1) 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 to put the visitors 2-1 up ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.

This was a fourth appearance in the competition for the Londoner, who has spent much of his Davis Cup career sitting on the sidelines cheering on the Murray brothers.

When he has been given a chance, he has often looked very nervous, and he and Murray were not altogether convincing in their only previous victory together in Serbia last summer.

But here he was the best player on the court, staying calm at the big moments and putting pressure on the Canadians with a series of fine backhands.

Inglot's excellence was perhaps all the more surprising given in his last match, at the Australian Open, he spurned three match points against top seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, serving into his partner Florin Mergea on one of them.

The 30-year-old revealed he reassessed his game after the loss and the hard work he has put in on the practice court with coach Louis Cayer and British captain Leon Smith paid dividends.

Inglot said:" The way I look at it is there's guys who would die to be in my situation and be part of the team and not play but support. When I get my chance I want to use it as best I can.

"If Andy comes back in the next tie and wants to play then that's fine. I'm out here doing what I can and I'm proud of myself for that."

Inglot also overcame a painful blow to the midriff from a Nestor volley early in the second set.

"It's a bit sore," he said. "I think he wanted to intimidate me a little bit."

Inglot and Murray's victory gave Great Britain the lead heading into the final day (Getty)

The tie was delicately poised after the first day following victories for Dan Evans and Pospisil, making what is so often a decisive match arguably even more important.

It was a very even battle on paper, too, with all four experienced doubles players.

Very experienced in the case of 44-year-old Nestor, who received a huge ovation from the enthusiastic crowd at the TD Place Arena as he lined up at his 50th tie.

Pospisil was still in nappies when Nestor made his Davis Cup debut in 1992 with a five-set win over Stefan Edberg.

It was no surprise that opportunities for breaks were few and far between, with the unusually-fast court favouring the server.

Inglot saved a set point in the 12th game of the first set before Britain went on to take the tie-break, but it was winning the third-set tie-break that really put them on their way to victory.

Murray and Inglot are congratulated by Nestor and Pospisil (Getty)

Murray said: "We knew it was going to be a really tough match; I don't think there was really a favourite and, with the way the surface was, there weren't going to be a whole load of chances out there because everyone was serving well.

"The third-set tie-break was huge for us. We both felt they dropped off energy wise after that. Dom played a great game to break serve. We fought really hard from start to finish, we stayed strong in the important moments."

Victory for Evans in the opening match on Sunday would clinch the tie for Britain, and it may not be Pospisil that he faces.

The 26-year-old was impressive against Kyle Edmund on Friday and loves the fast conditions but had treatment to his knee and revealed he is struggling with a few physical issues.

Speaking in English he was bullish about his chances against Evans, saying: "Yes his ranking's gone up but he's still the same player, he still has the same weaknesses that he had before.

"He's definitely more confident now than he's ever been. He's a good tennis player, he reads the game well, but I definitely have the weapons to beat him."

But in French he was less positive, saying: "I'm playing with pain, and it's not good for my health if I do that. I will discuss it with the team. If there is a risk of something then it wouldn't be intelligent for the big picture."

Should Pospisil not be fit, the Canadians would have to rely on Peter Polansky, who at 28 has only ever won 14 tour-level matches.

A deciding fifth rubber, meanwhile, would pit Edmund against 17-year-old Denis Shapovalov.

Smith, who is expecting Pospisil to play, said: "There's still a lot of tennis. We've been in these situations before. The good thing is it gives you two cracks at it and gives everyone a lot of confidence.

"It does feel good going into the team room, it feels like the momentum is with you, and we've got two very good players that we can prepare for tomorrow."

PA