Italy mastered incredibly difficult conditions at The Metropolitan Golf Club to post one of just four under-par rounds on day two of the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf.
Andrea Pavan and Renato Paratore made four birdies and three bogeys in a 71 to sit just two shots behind leaders Belgium and South Africa, alongside England, India and Malaysia.
Strong winds and heavy rain was present throughout the day on the Sandbelt and Pavan was delighted with how he and his partner handled that adversity.
"I think it was very tough today," he said. "We started well with Renato holing a really long putt on the first and that can give us a boost.
"We hit a lot of good shots. Renato was playing really well and I hit some good iron shots. It was tough to hit it close but I felt like we scrambled well.
It was tough to hit it close but I felt like we scrambled well - Andrea Pavan
"We made a few mistakes but we made some birdies, which is great."
Paratore added: "The wind is just a lot of crosswinds, that made it tough with the trees and gusting and the rain on and off.
"The greens are tough so there were a lot of tough pin positions where you can't be short-sided and you just have very little room to work with in the second shots."
England pair Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton carded a 74 with Poulter hitting two remarkable shots on the tenth and the 13th.
The Ryder Cup talisman found the green from deep in the trees just after the turn but par could not be saved, and he then found the green again from a bunker on the 13th as he and Hatton did make their four.
"I don't think you'll see a bad par, to be honest," said Hatton.
"We were pretty unlucky with what happened in the bunker and then Ian played an unbelievable shot to get it onto the green and then I was just fortunate to hole the putt for par. I believe that gave us a bit of momentum and definitely feel we played pretty well coming in.
"Conditions were pretty tough all day and it was very easy to take ourselves out of the tournament. We're only two back with 36 to go, which is a good position, and hopefully we can have a good weekend now."
