Danish rookie Hamish Brown joined Eddie Pepperell at the top of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open leaderboard after firing a second successive 68 on Friday morning.
European Challenge Tour graduate Brown produced a hat-trick of birdies on the front nine before adding two more gains either side of a bogey at the 17th to head into the weekend on eight under par.
Also on that score at the halfway stage is first-round leader Pepperell, who added a second-round 70 to his opening 66 by mixing four birdies with two bogeys.
Sitting in a tie for third on seven under are Brown's countryman Jacob Skov Olesen, who became the first Danish winner of The Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin in the summer before securing his DP World Tour card at Qualifying School last month, and South African Christo Lamprecht.
Olesen made six birdies and four bogeys in his 70, with the highlight of his round coming at the fifth, where his stunning pitch set up a tap-in birdie.
Lamprecht, meanwhile, shone around the greens as he chipped in for an eagle on the 13th and a birdie at the last on his way to a sensational 68.
Pepperell suffered the disappointment of missing out on his card by one shot at Qualifying School last month but looks to have rediscovered the sort of form that saw him win two DP World Tour titles.
Starting from the tenth tee on Friday, the Englishman bogeyed his opening hole before getting the shot back on the 13th.
A stunning approach shot at the first led to a tap-in birdie before he picked up further shots on the fifth and seventh, either side of a bogey at the sixth.
Pepperell said: "I do think what I'm working on the last couple of days with my swing has certainly got legs.
"Let's hope it's got weekend legs on.
"I think it's pretty good and I've just got to keep doing it."
Brown produced a birdie burst at the third, fourth and fifth before making another on the par-four 13th.
His only bogey of the day arrived at the 17th but he bounced straight back with a four-foot birdie on the last.
He said: "We've only played two rounds so there's still a lot of golf left.
"But it's nice, I didn't doubt my level, to be good enough for this but it's still nice to see and nice to do it even though I had a month off, not really playing too much golf.
"So last week was a bit rusty, I felt like, but it's feeling better and better."
