India led the five-match series 3-0 and clinched the series against New Zealand with a third straight victory in the third one-dayer at Vadodara today. They beat New Zealand by 9 wickets with 63 balls to spare. Chasing a paltry target of 225 runs, openers Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay added 115 runs for the opening wicket to give India a blistering start. Gautam Gambhir made his ninth ODI century. He was declared Man of the Match for his unbeaten 126. Virat Kohli made 63 and Murali Vijay 30. Earlier batting first, New Zealand made 224 for 9. Down by 2 matches and faced with a must-win situation, the visitors made a shocking start by losing their openers within the first five overs and were struggling at 106 for seven before James Franklin, 72 not out, and Nathan McCullum repaired the innings with a stand of 94. For India, Zaheer Khan, Yusuf Pathan and R Ashwin claimed two wickets each while Munaf Patel took one.The Scores: New Zealand: 224 for 9 in 50 overs. India: 229 for one in 39.3 overs.