Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa put up an improved showing in the four-ball format, returning a two-under 70, though it could not prevent them from slipping nine places to tied 20th after the penultimate round in the Omega Mission Hills Golf World Cup in Dongguan, China, on Saturday.
The Indians have a three-round total of seven-under 209.
On a roller-coaster day, the duo managed five birdies against three bogeys.
Making a fine start, the Indians picked up a birdie-brace on the third and fourth holes to make the turn two-under after playing out a flawless front nine.
Things went topsy-turvy in the back-nine as Jeev and Randhawa started off on a bogey-birdie note on the 11th and 12th. They picked another couple of birdies but dropped an equal number of bogeys in the remaining holes to close out an eventful day.
At the top, Spain (67) and Australia (63) shared the lead with totals of 22-under 194. Sweden (66) was third four strokes adrift.
Leading scores after Roundd 3:
194: Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal) 64-63-67
194: Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones) 63-68-63
198: Sweden (Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson) 65-67-66
199: Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka) 62-69-68
201: Ireland (Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley) 65-68-68.