The outright leader after day one, Kyriacou was joined at the top by Nuutinen after Round 2 and the pair put on an impressive display of scoring in the third round, both carding 7-under 65s to reach 13-under to open up a four-stroke lead with one round left to play.

Winner of the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville early last year, Kyriacou got off to a superb start on day three, rolling in four consecutive birdies on holes three through to six to make the turn in 32.

The 2020 LET Rookie of the Year made another four birdies on the back nine, only dropping a shot on 17 to finish the day tied at the top.

“I was having fun out there; I was holing some long putts which is always enjoyable,” Kyriacou said post-round.

“We both played really well so it was anyone’s game the whole day. It will be interesting tomorrow.

“I haven’t thought about what it would mean but it would be great to get my first professional win.”

Out in the second group of the day in the opening round, Herbert had to sit, watch and wait as the morning groups in round two moved past his day one score of 8-under par.

A birdie on the opening hole was a positive start but a double bogey after he found the water on the third hole put him three strokes behind England’s Dale Whitnell.

After a two-putt birdie on the par-5 fifth Herbert then picked up five shots in six holes from the eighth en route to a 5-under 67 to be 13-under after 36 holes and two strokes in front of England’s Andy Sullivan and Scot Grant Forrest.

“It was a little frustrating but I also felt like I did pretty well to scrap 67 out of that,” said the 25-year-old.

“I holed some really nice putts and then missed some where I probably thought that was a good chance to make.

“The double on three didn’t help as well so for a round that hopefully is not one of the better ones of the week, I felt like I did really well to get a lot out of it and put myself into a very good position going into the weekend.”

Seeking to add a second European Tour title to his Omega Dubai Desert Classic win last January, Herbert said he will think back to that week over the final two rounds.

“It’s definitely something that comes with a win, where you know you’ve proved to yourself that you can win. You can hit shots under pressure and actually win,” said Herbert, top 20 in his two most recent starts on the PGA TOUR to be ranked 91st in the world.

“I’ll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence as well.”

West Australian Min Woo Lee (68) briefly held a share of the lead on day two before ending the day tied for ninth at 8-under, Jason Scrivener (69) left to rue some missed opportunities with the putter as he too enters the weekend in a share of ninth.