A tearful Ross Taylor was given a standing ovation as the New Zealand great made an emotional farewell to international cricket on Monday after 16 years at the top.

The visiting Netherlands team gave the 38-year-old a guard of honour as he came out to bat at number four in the third one-day international at Seddon Park in Hamilton.

He was dismissed for 14, before the home side went on to win the match by a dominant 115 runs to sweep the series 3-0, with Taylor taking the final catch to wrap up victory in fitting fashion.

Taylor announced in December that the series against the Dutch would be his last hurrah.

With his children on one side and teammates on the other, Taylor was in tears before the match as the players lined up for the national anthems, in his 450th and final appearance for New Zealand.

The Seddon Park spectators rose to their feet and applauded generously as he came to the crease for the final time, and then again when he came out to field.

Taylor bowed out of Test cricket in style in January, taking the last Bangladesh wicket to ensure New Zealand won the second Test in Christchurch and drew the series. 

Taylor has been a mainstay in the New Zealand batting order since making his debut in 2006, amassing a plethora of records and achievements.

Among them are a New Zealand record 7,683 Test runs and he also scored the most runs for the country in ODIs.

He also made the highest Test score in Australia by a visiting player, 290 at Perth in 2015.