Nicolas Colsaerts vaults 68 places up the leaderboard in Mauritius

Nicolas Colsaerts surged into contention on day two of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open as Andrew Dodt extended his lead to three shots at the halfway stage.

Colsaerts, who has been a touring professional attached to the Four Seasons Golf Club Anahita for six years, hit back from his opening 75 with a superb seven-under 65 to move 68 places up the leaderboard and into a share of third place.

Despite the blustery conditions that saw only three players break 70 on day two, Colsaerts used his local knowledge of the layout to great effect and reeled off five birdies in seven holes on the outward half to turn in 31.

The former Ryder Cup star bogeyed the 10th for the second day running, but he responded with three consecutive birdies and answered another dropped shot at 16 with his ninth birdie of the round at the last to close on four under par.

"I can't really think of a better display than that," said the Belgian after recording the best round of the tournament. "I played every shot the way I intended, using the wind here and there, and most of them were really close. I converted most of the birdie chances I gave myself, but it could've been even better.

"I drove just off the back of the green on the ninth and made four, and I three-putted the tenth. I dropped another shot on the 16th and got it back on the last, so overall I'm very happy. It's the toughest I've ever seen this place play in however many rounds I've played here. It's a serious test."

Colsaerts heads into the weekend four adrift of Dodt, who added an erratic 70 to his opening 66 to go three clear of last week's Trophee Hassan II champion Jeunghun Wang, who had taken the lead during the morning session.

Dodt reclaimed top spot with birdies at seven and 10 and he chipped in for another at the short 12th, but he came unstuck at the next and admitted "lost concentration" as he ran up a double-bogey seven.

The Australian got one shot back at 14 only to bogey 15, but a closing birdie lifted him back to eight under par and in prime position to land his third European Tour title.

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Wang enjoyed a purple patch on the back nine when he birdied 12 and 14 either side of an eagle, although he also carded three bogeys in his 70 which earned him outright second place.

Colsaerts shares third with Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman, while English veteran Ross McGowan improved his position by 66 places after carding seven birdies and two bogeys in a commendable 67.

World No 62 Jaco van Zyl, the highest ranked player in the field, is one of four South Africans on one under as only nine players in total reached the halfway stage under par for the tournament.