An emotional Ross Taylor got a winning farewell from his New Zealand teammates who thrashed the Netherlands by 115 runs in the final one-dayer to complete a 3-0 series sweep on Monday.

The 38-year-old, who played the last of his 112 Tests in January, could not hold back tears when the teams lined up for national anthems at Hamilton’s Seddon Park for his 236th and final ODI in New Zealand colours.

Taylor, who has played 450 matches for New Zealand in all formats since his ODI debut in Napier 16 years ago, received a guard of honour from the Dutch side when he walked out to bat.

He managed 14 off 16 balls before retiring as New Zealand’s most successful one-day batsman having accumulated 8,607 runs, including 21 hundreds and 51 half-centuries, both record marks for his country.

Taylor hit a six among his 14 runs before mistiming a ball from Logan van Beek and offering the bowler a simple return catch. He turned toward the changing room for the last time with a faint smile on his face, acknowledging the long ovation of the crowd.

Taylor’s final act in international cricket was taking a catch to seal New Zealand’s comprehensive victory watched by his family. Will Young (120) and Martin Guptill (106) smashed centuries to power New Zealand to 333 for eight but the day belonged to Taylor who led them off the field after the victory.

“Ross is undoubtedly one of the absolute greats of New Zealand cricket and one of the greats of world cricket as well,” New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chairman Martin Snedden said. “But it isn’t just the stats that has endeared him to the cricketing public of New Zealand. That’s his own personal qualities. Over the years, we’ve seen his humbleness, we’ve seen the smile, and we’ve seen the dedication to the cause of the Black Caps.”

Said daughter Mackenzie: “I hope he hasn’t hurt his finger because he has to do the lawn tomorrow.”

Taylor, presented with a traditional Samoan necklace, thanked the NZC and his teammates. “It’s been a pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it,” the former New Zealand captain said.

“I’ll be watching from afar to see how you guys go.

“For me it was just being a player that tried to fight in as many situations as possible. I gave it my all, played with a smile on my face and represented my country proudly and with a lot of respect,” Taylor said.

“That’s always what I wanted to do — play for my country. And hopefully that’s something it’ll be cool to be remembered for.”

(Written with agency inputs)

Taylor Made

New Zealand gave Ross Taylor a perfect send-off by comprehensively beating the Netherlands to seal a 3-0 sweep of the ODI series in Hamilton on Monday. Fittingly, it was Taylor who took the winning catch.

Here’s a look at Taylor’s career stats:

1) Tests: 112 matches, 196 innings, 7683 runs, 290 highest, 44.66 Avg., 19 centuries, 163 catches

2) ODIs: 236 matches, 220 innings, 8607 runs, 181 n.o. highest, 47.55 Avg., 21 centuries, 142 catches

3) T20Is: 102 matches, 94 innings, 1909 runs, 63 HS, 26.15 Avg., 122.37 SR, 46 catches