New Zealand 314 (Martin Guptill 111, Kane Williamson 65, Ravindra Jadeja 2-47) tied with India 9-314 (Ravindra Jadeja 66*, Ravichandran Ashwin 65, MS Dhoni 50, Corey Anderson 5-63)

A scintillating display of batting by Ravichandran Ashwin along with Ravindra Jadeja almost brought India to a win as the 3^rd ODI ended in a draw.

The Black Caps amassed 314 in 50 overs and the Blue Shirts responded with even score in the required overs.

Ravindra Jadeja (India) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his astonishing unbeaten knock of 66 off 45 mere balls.

The third One Day International of the five match series was played on Saturday, January 25, 2014, at Eden Park, Auckland.

Earlier, MS Dhoni, the skipper of India won the toss and put the home side into bat first. The kiwis lost their first wicket at 36 as Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson took the score to 107 in 21 overs. The partnership was dislodged at 189 when Williamson was clean bowled by Mohammed Shami for 65. Martin Guptill carried on with his onslaught and smashed his fifth ODI hundred in the 36^th over. He was dismissed for 111 off 129 deliveries with 2 lofty sixes and 12 fours and the innings of the entire home side was folded back for 314.

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja were the main wicket takers with two each whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron and Ravichandran Ashwin shared one wicket each.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started the chase nicely by scoring 64 runs in 9.2 overs. Corey Anderson sent the duo back to the pavilion for 39 and 28 while the Men in Blue were reeling at 4-79 after 17.4 overs. Suresh Raina along with MS Dhoni decided to attack and enhanced the score to 146 when the first left his partner after scoring 31 and was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin.

Dhoni was dismissed after scoring his 53^rd ODI fifty and Ravindra Jadeja joined in with Ashwin. The complexion of the game was changed by the pair and Ashwin achieved his maiden ODI half century on the 35^th ball while Jadeja was dropped at 25 by Tim Southee.

The Blue Shirts required 54 runs to win from the last 36 deliveries when Ravichandran Ashwin was gone for 65 as the score touched 269 in 44.5 overs. Jadeja continued attacking the rival bowlers and reached his fifty in the 49^th one. The target was reduced to 18 off 6 and India levelled the score on the last ball while Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten for 66 off 45 with 4 flying sixes and 5 fours.

Corey Anderson was the star performer with five wickets, Hamish Bennett held two whereas Tim Southee and Nathan McCullum got one wicket each.

The third game ended in a nail biting finish as a tied one but New Zealand still leads the series at 2-0.