Ishant Sharma picked up five wickets as Deccan Chargers pulled off an emphatic 55-run victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala in their IPL encounter in Kochi on Wednesday.
Chasing a modest total of 129 for seven, Kochi were derailed by an impressive spell from Sharma (five for 12) as the hosts were skittled out for a paltry 74.
Kumar Sangakkara (65) held the innings together for Deccan after the loss of three early wickets.
RP Singh dismissed openers Sunny Sohal and Shikhar Dhawan and Vinay Kumar then sent back Bharat Chipli to reduce Deccan to 20 for three.
Sangakkara and Cameron White set about rebuilding the innings before Kumar removed Sangakkara (65 off 47 balls) and White (31 off 34) with successive deliveries.
The final three overs yielded only 19 runs, but the 90-run stand between Sangakkara and White meant Deccan had a total to defend.
Sharma then claimed three wickets in four balls after Dale Steyn had sent back opener Brendon McCullum in the first over.
With four wickets down for just two runs, Kochi looked to Mahela Jayawardene and Kedar Jadhav to stage a rescue act.
But Sharma dismissed the pair in the next over to leave Deccan reeling on 11 for six, five of which were claimed by the paceman for just six runs.
Ravindra Jadeja and Perera then got the scoreboard ticking and Kochi reached 45 for six at the halfway mark.
But Manpreet Goni broke the 36-run stand by having Perera (22) caught at mid-off and with Jadeja falling in Amit Mishra's next over, the chances of an unlikely victory faded.
Steyn then wrapped up the tail by cleaning up Kumar (18 off 19) and last man RP Singh to help himself to impressive figures of three for 16.
