Bengaluru, July 23 (IANS): Rookie Amandeep Drall carded two-over 74 to retain the lead in the second round of the 12th leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Prestige Golfshire here on Thursday.

Amandeep, who on Wednesday scored two-under 70, took his total to even-par 144, one shot ahead of second placed Vani Kapoor of Delhi, who scored 71. The third place was shared by Neha Tripathi and amateur Trisha Sunil on three-over 147.

Amandeep had an indifferent day on the field as she dropped three shots on the ninth, 12th and 13th holes, along with a triple bogey on the eighth. However, four birdies on the seventh, 11th, 17th and 18th holes helped her recover.

Hero Order of Merit leader Vani played a cautious front nine, carding two birdies on the fifth and sixth, and dropping shots on the fourth and ninth. She showed much more aggression as the day progressed, and played a flawless back nine with a lone birdie on the 17th to end the day with 71 -- the day's best score.

Third placed Trisha played brilliantly in the front nine, carding three birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth, with a lone bogey on the 5th. However, she could not sustain the momentum and played a birdie-less back nine with two bogeys on the 16th and 18th to return with a 72.

Neha carded four birdies on the fifth, 13th, 17th and 18th, while dropping shots on the sixth, 12th and 16th, along with a double bogey on the 10th to get 73.

Sharmila Nicollet and Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal with a total score of 149 were tied fifth after 36 holes. Gursimar scored 75, while local challenger Sharmila carded 73.

Delhi's Ankita Tiwana was seventh on 154, followed by Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma at 156. Pune’s Shweta Galande and Delhi's Mehar Atwal were tied ninth with identical totals of 159.