The statuesque second seed was forced to save match points against fellow Russian Panova on Wednesday but roared back into form against the hapless Kazakh, who was completely out-gunned in the baseline duels.
"I think I rebounded really well. I had a good hit yesterday," the five-times grand slam champion told reporters.
"Just kind of thought a little bit about what I wanted to try to achieve tonight no matter who I played.
"Of course, I focussed a little bit on myself more than anything else.
"Just tried to be a bit more aggressive, concentrate. I thought I did a good job of focussing well."
Sharapova blasted 22 winners against the 31st seed and sealed the match with an ace in a tick over an hour.
The Russian will next play Peng Shuai for a place in the quarter-finals, with the 21st-seeded Chinese taking on the mantle of retired champion Li Na with a second trip to the last 16 in Melbourne.
"I think she's always a tough player to play against because she's really solid," Sharapova said.
"She's quite powerful. I know she's gone through a few injuries in her career. Having that start-stop type of career is never easy, because sometimes you don't feel like you can actually get a routine and a groove.
"I think she's someone that actually gets better by playing matches, when she gets a good feeling of her strokes, because so much depends on her groundstrokes and the fluidity of how she hits."
(Editing by Amlan Chakraborty/John O'Brien)
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