Starting from the 10th at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club on Friday, Ashok fired five birdies in her first seven holes before holing out from a greenside bunker on the par-5 18th to be out in 29.

The 24-year-old from Bengaluru, who won her fourth LET title in Kenya by nine shots earlier this month, dropped shots on the first and sixth before completing her round with a birdie on the ninth.

At 13-under-par, Ashok now enjoys a two-shot lead over World No.1 Lydia Ko and American Lilia Vu, with the New Zealander Ko adding a 69 to her opening 64 and Vu matching Ashok's 66 despite the windy conditions.

"I thought it was pretty windy when I saw the birds going sideways," joked Ko, who carded six birdies and three bogeys.

"Luckily for us we were one of the early few groups in the afternoon so we had to bear the wind a little less than some of the other players, but all in all I thought I played pretty solid in that stretch when it did get pretty windy."

England's Cara Gainer is five shots off the lead after a 67, with compatriot and defending champion Georgia Hall another two strokes back following a 68.

Steph Kyriacou was the only Australian to make the weekend as she also fired a 67 to move to three under, tied for 29th, but Hannah Green, Gabriela Ruffels and Whitney Hillier all missed the cut.