Ishant's 11 five wicket haul meant he had equaled Zaheer Khan on the 2nd position in the list of Indian pacers with most five-wicket hauls in Tests.
The right-arm seamer had made early inroads into the New Zealand batting order by dismissing Kiwis top order batsman Tom Blundell, Tom Latham and Ross Taylor on Day 2.
On Sunday, he scalped Ross Taylor and Tim Southee to complete his 11th five-wicket haul in the longest format, as New Zealand were bowled out for 348, with a lead of 183 over India.
India's legendary seam bowling all-rounder Kapil Dev is top on the list of most five wicket hauls by Indian seamer in Test cricket.
The tall and lanky Delhi seamer surpassed Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Zaheer Khan to become the bowler with 3rd most-5 wicket hauls in away Tests. Sharma had achieved the milestone 9 times in his career now. Only Kapil Dev (12) and Anil Kumble (10) are higher in the lists.
Sharma was sleep deprived and stated earlier that he could have done better on day 2. “I am not happy because I have not slept for two days and I was struggling a lot today (with my body). The way I would have liked to bowl, it did not happen. They asked me to play and I played. Anything, for the team,” said India’s go-to pacer in the current game.