Steph Kyriacou shot the equal best round of the day to leap into contention at the $1 million Saudi Ladies International at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
After posting an opening 75, the young Australian fired a six-under 66 in the second round on Friday to close within three shots of leaders Georgia Hall and Kristyna Napoleaova.
The Sydneysider kickstarted her round with an eagle on the 13th before dropping a shot on the following hole.
However, it was her back nine where the two-time Ladies European Tour winner made inroads as she rolled in five birdies to put herself at three-under-par for the tournament and in a good position heading into the weekend.
"I hit good shots yesterday, but they would finish like 30 metres away from the pin," said the 21-year-old, who finished third in last season's Race to Costa del Sol.
"I hit good shots today and because there wasn't much wind, I could actually hit them close and give myself chances."
England's Hall and Czech rookie Napoleaova are tied at the top.
Hall, who shared the overnight lead alongside Sophie Witt, got off to a hot start with three consecutive birdies on holes 11 through to 13 and made the turn in 33.
As the wind started to pick up at the end of the morning, Hall made another birdie on the fourth but dropped a shot on the sixth to sign for a round of 69 and sit at six-under-par.
"The pins were a little trickier actually than yesterday. I'm pretty pleased with the way I played," said the two-time Solheim Cup winner.
"It gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend. That's what happens with golf, sometimes you get a good draw and sometimes a bad draw.
"You've got to accept it, which I did. I don't mind playing in the wind, so we'll just see what happens."
Napoleaova faced the tougher afternoon conditions on day two but breezed through her round firing a bogey-free 66 - one of three players to do so with Kyriacou and Sanna Nuutinen - to be level with Hall.
After an eagle on the fourth, the former footballer rolled in birdies on seven, nine and 13 before finishing her day with a flourish on 18 to seal a career-best round.
"It was a really good round. Even yesterday I felt like the course is running really well and the greens are pure. I feel this is exactly for me - apart from the wind," said Napoleaova, who only began playing golf six years ago.
Five-time LET winner Anne Van Dam also produced an excellent afternoon round firing a 69 (-3) to move to third place on four-under-par.
Sweden's Anna Nordqvist shot a level-par round of 72 to sit in fifth place on two-under while three players are in a share of sixth place, including 2010 LET Order of Merit winner Lee-Anne Pace.
