The Mhow professional took top spot with a cumulative score of 139, two strokes ahead of yesterday's joint leader Rafiq Ali in the season ending Rs 6 lakh event.

Rafiq's level par score today, added to the three-under yesterday, put him two strokes ahead of Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh. The latter finished the day at 71.

Seasoned campaigner Mukesh struck purple patch while going out saving strokes on sixth, eighth and ninth. Maintaining the tempo, he also notched up birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th to take top spot.

``I was having problems judging the pace of the green yesterday. Today, I was able to adjust and that helped me regain my confidence,'' said the beaming 29-year-old. His card, however could have read still better had it not been for three two-feet putts missed during the day.

Rafiq, winnerat this year's Patna Open struggled with his putting dropping shots on the third, fourth, sixth and seventh. He had a better run from there on firing birdies on the eighth, 10th, 11th, 15th and 17th. A bogey on the final hole saw him miss on a sub-par score.

Sanjay Kumar of Kanpur and Mohd Maqbool of Delhi returned with four under cards while Gaurav Ghei ended with three under.

Leading Scores (After 36 holes)

139: Mukesh Kumar (73, 66); 141:Rafiq Ali (69, 72); 143: Amritinder Singh (71, 72); 144: Mohd Maqbool (76, 68); 145: Basad Ali (73, 72); Vishal Singh (69, 76).