David Drysdale one off lead after strong finish to his round

The 34-year-old birdied his final three holes for a five-under-par 67 and a 36-hole total of 135, leaving him just behind English duo Barry Lane and John Parry and Taiwan's Chan Yih-shin.

"That finish was good because I had made a couple of really silly bogeys when I should have been going for birdies on the seventh and 14th holes," said Drysdale.

"But, overall, it has been pretty good – I holed a great putt on the 16th from about 30 feet and then had nice approaches on the last two holes to make another two birdies."

The Scot, who had seven birdies in total on his card yesterday, spoke of the challenge facing players on the grainy greens in India.

"I have driven the ball well, but haven't putted great this week," he added. "I have holed a few nice birdie putts but then missed a few short ones. It is difficult to read the grainy greens here, though. I can't read grain at all and I don't think many of the European guys are very good at it, to be honest, so that is an extra challenge for us coming over here."

While the second round was still to be completed this morning after play was suspended yesterday due to lighting, it looked as though five of the six Scots in the field would be playing in the final two rounds. Richie Ramsay is in a tie for 20th after moving up the leaderboard thanks to a second-round 68 that contained five birdies, while Peter Whiteford shot a second successive 70 to lie a shot behind.

For the second day running, though, the Fifer ran up a costly double-bogey, the damage being done on this occasion at the 12th.

Steven O'Hara is on two-under after a 73, with Andrew Coltart also looking as though he'd make the cut despite a 74 dropping him back to one-under. Callum Macaulay, playing on a sponsor's invite, missed out after a 75 left him on seven over – seven shots too many.

Lane was delighted to show he can still mix it with the young guns of the European Tour after the veteran Englishman took the clubhouse lead.

The 49-year-old carded a second consecutive 67 to move to ten-under-par, level with compatriot Parry and Yih-shin who both have one hole remaining in their second rounds.

Lane, who is set to join the Senior Tour in June, has only finished in the top 30 of a European Tour event twice in the last two years, but is poised to improve that record following two excellent rounds.

"It can be hard work being an old man out here," Lane admitted. "I will turn 50 in June and these young guys are bombing it past you at times, but it is nice to know that I can still play and compete out here; it has just been the short game and the putting, but hopefully that is getting better."

Three birdies over his opening nine holes helped Lane remain in touch at the top after starting the day three back from overnight leader Marcel Siem.

He picked up another shot at the first and although that was subsequently cancelled out with a bogey at the fifth, two more birdies saw Lane sign for a five-under-par effort.

LEADERBOARD

Latest second-round scores & totals (play abandoned on Friday due to lightning and will re-start on Saturday 7.15am) (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

134 Barry Lane 67 67

135 David Drysdale 68 67, Darren Beck (Aus) 70 65, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 68, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 67 68

136 Sung Lee (Kor) 71 65, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 67 69, Kwanchai Tannin (Hkg) 68 68

137 Shane Lowry 71 66, Darren Clarke 71 66, Oliver Fisher 70 67

138 Richard Finch 69 69, Wen-hong Lin (Chn) 68 70

Other scores: 139 Richie Ramsay 71 68. 140 Peter Whiteford 70 70. 142 Steven O'Hara 69 73. 143 Andrew Coltart 69 74. 151 Callum Macaulay 76 75