Emiliano Grillo made two early bogeys to give some hope to the chasing pack as the third round of the Hero Indian Open got under way.
The Argentinian had led by seven at one point on day two but a closing bogey and brilliant course-record 64 by local hero Shubhankar Sharma had slashed his overnight advantage to four at DLF Golf and Country Club.
The 25 year old then bogeyed the first and second in his first three holes on Saturday to slip to nine under and lead by just three from Sharma and England's Andrew Johnston.
Frenchman Sébastien Gros, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, Dutchman Joost Luiten, England's Matt Wallace and American duo Sihwan Kim and Paul Peterson were then at five under, with an ever incresing number of players coming into the mix.
Grillo dropped a shot on the first for just his third bogey of the week and that gave the likes of Luiten and Gros - who had birdied their openers - real hope as they were now just five back.
Peterson had also birdied the first and he bogeyed the third but then made another gain on the fourth to also join that group at five under.
Wallace was the first man to move out of it, making a birdie on the second as he chipped in to sit alongside Johnston and Larrazábal in the group in third.
Grillo dropped another shot on the second and all of a sudden Sharma, despite a par-par start with a chip-in on the second, found himself just two shots off the lead.
Larrazábal also bogeyed the second and the group at five under was swelling with Wallace bogeying the third and Kim birdieing the sixth.
Johnston made it three pars in a row but Sharma dropped a shot on the third to give Grillo a little more breathing space.
Ricardo Gouveia, Aaron Rai and Matthias Schwab were all under par for their rounds at four under.
