Richard Sterne might have lost the lead on Friday, but he stayed right up there with a four-under-par 68 in the second round of the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.

His five birdies and a bogey took him to 12-under-par for the tournament and a share of third, just two strokes off the lead. He shared third with Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and England’s Andy Sullivan.

Tommy Fleetwood and fellow Englishman Aaron Rai share the lead at the halfway stage after wowing the crowds.

First-round co-leader Fleetwood made a lightning-quick start in the second round as he opened with a hat-trick of birdies before going on to sign for a 66. The two-time former winner and reigning FedEx Cup champion made a total of seven birdies, with his only bogey of the week so far coming on the 15th.

Joining Fleetwood on 14-under-par was world number 30 Rai, who fired a breathtaking albatross and five birdies in a flawless 64. The highlight of Rai’s round came at the par-five second, where he holed his approach shot from 218 yards with a six-iron to land the rarest of birds.

On his albatross, Rai said: “I think we had about 185 yards to the front. The wind was a little bit down off the left and that green is so fast, and slopes front-to-back, that anything pitching a few yards onto the green always gets down to the bottom.

“I actually caught it a little bit clean off the face, the line was great. I think it probably pitched around the front edge and chased its way down there. We couldn’t see it from back on the fairway, so it was a nice surprise.”

Further down the leaderboard, Jayden Schaper carded a two-under 70 to move to six-under and a share of 35th in the 72-man field.

South African Open Dylan Naidoo had a superb bogey-free seven-under-par 65 as he moved to five-under and a share of 40th.

Thriston Lawrence was on four-under after his level-par 72, Shaun Norris was on level-par after a one-under for his second round and Jacques Kruyswijk was on two-over after he signed for a three-over 75.