New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS): Sharmila Nicollet carded two-over 74 in the second and penultimate round to retain her lead in the 16th Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Delhi Golf Club here on Thursday.

Bengaluru's Sharmila, who is chasing her second title of the season, played a cautious front nine, carding two birdies on the second and fifth holes and a double bogey on the third hole. Her return journey was quite eventful as she carded three birdies on the 10th, 14th and 18th holes, along with the same number of bogeys on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes.

A double-bogey on the 15th contributed to the damage and she finished with a 74 that took her two-day total to 146 -- one shot ahead of Tvesa Malik, who scored a 73.

Tvesa, who started the day in the tied third position, played a birdie-less front nine with a lone bogey on the eighth. She started her back-nine with a birdie on the 10th and could have ended the day tied for the first spot but for a bogey on the 16th.

Rookie Amandeep Drall and Delhi’s Gauri Monga shared the third spot with identical totals of 148. Amandeep returned with a card of one-under 71, the only under-par score of the day. The Panchkula professional's round consisted of two birdies on the third and ninth, with a lone blemish on the second.

Gauri started with a birdie on the first, but could not sustain the momentum and dropped the next three shots. She also bogeyed the 16th hole, but a birdie on the last hole rescued her and helped to stay in contention with a score of 74.

Veteran Smriti Mehra, Gursimar Badwal and amateur Diksha Dagar are in tied fifth position with a total of seven-over 151 after 36 holes.

Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana was eighth on nine-over 153 and was followed by Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor on 154.