Balala carded a brilliant three-under-par 69 on moving day to move to level-par 216 overall, one shot clear of Shashwat Harish and John Kamaisi, who are tied for second on one-over-par 217.

During his impressive round, Balala picked up birdies on the third and fifth holes before bogeying the sixth. He added another birdie on the seventh, dropped a shot at the eighth, before recovering with a birdie at the ninth to make the turn in 34.

On the back nine, he added further birdies at the 13th and 15th before dropping another shot at the 16th for an inward 35.

In second place, Harish and Kamaisi both carded identical rounds of one-over-par 73.

Kevin Anyien, Hitayezu Jean D’amour and Jay Sandhu are tied for fourth on two-over-par 218. Kamoza Longwe is seventh on three-over-par 219, followed by Pranay Kapur on five-over-par 221.