Ishant thanks Zaheer for his fantastic spell

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma thanked Zaheer Khan after he wrecked the Kochi Tuskers Kerala with his figures of five for 12 in Deccan Chargers' 55-run win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Nehru Stadium here Wednesday.

"I need to say thanks to Zaheer Khan because he told me to keep working hard on my fitness. Working with him is really tremendous for me," said Sharma, who was adjudged Man of the Match after he registered the third best IPL figures.

"It's not about inspiration, when we were sitting in the dressing room we thought 130 is a good total. And when Rudra Pratap Singh's first ball hit the gloves, we thought we won't mind bowling first on this track," he said.

Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara lauded Sharma for his magnificent performance.

"Once we started batting, we though 130-140 is a competitive score. Both Steyn and Ishant were magnificent in the first six overs. We need to keep playing good cricket," he said.

Dale Steyn said that coach Darren Lehman had told them just to bowl line and length.

"The coach told us to bowl our lengths. I thought Ishant bowled fantastically well. I'd love to roll this wicket up and take it everywhere I go. We've just got to try and keep winning and go off the bottom and into the top four," said Steyn.

Kochi captain Mahela Jayawardene also lauded the Chargers' bowling unit.

"I thought it was a good effort by the bowlers. We knew they had quality bowlers upfront and we had to get through that spell. Ishant bowled very well upfront. The pitch had a bit more movement than we expected," he said.