Phillip Archer and Graeme Storm shot themselves into contention at the Johnnie Walker Classic, moving within two shots of joint leaders Shiv Kapur of India and Australia's Unho Park

Archer shot a mesmerising eight under par round of 64 to move within striking distance of the leaders, while Storm posted a hugely impressive six-under 66, as the English pair moved to eight-under for the tournament, two strokes behind the leaders.

However, it wasn't all good news for the Europeans as Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie missed the halfway cut of two under par. Poulter came closest to prolonging his tournament shooting a valiant 68, to finish on even par, but Montgomerie's round of 76 left him well adrift of the leaders at the DLF Golf and Country Club near Delhi.

Home favourite, Jyoti Randhawa (65) and little-known Japanese player Taichiro Kiyota (67) are tied for third place on nine under while Storm and Archer are in a four-way tie for fifth with world number five Adam Scott of Australia (68) and Spain's Jose Manuel Lara (67).

Archer began the day on level par but surged up the leaderboard after an electric round that included an eagle and six birdies.

"I don't like to say it was easy but it felt very easy with no stress," he said. "I hit it close a few times and made a few decent 15 footers. When you hole them and knock your six footers in, it feels easy."

Meanwhile, Storm carded seven birdies and a lone bogey in his round and having made the cut in only one of three events that he has played so far this season, the 29-year-old from Hartlepool was understandably pleased.

"I've played well the last two days. Yesterday, I didn't hole many putts but today, I holed a couple more and just made one mistake, one blemish on my card in two days," he said.

"I have not been playing great of late, not been playing much and not been able to practice much either with the weather at home but it is starting to click.

"Winning last year has opened a few doors for me and my targets have changed a little. I have not had the best start to the year but there are plenty of tournaments to come."