He smashed the first ball of the last over for four, accepted a wide next ball which added a run and a ball to India's total, then failed to score off the next two deliveries.
He cleverly stepped inside the next ball from Corey Anderson to accrue another wide, to give himself another ball and one less run to carry India to its target.
Jadeja smashed a four to fine leg and a six down the ground the leave India needing two runs from the last ball as it searched for its first win of the series. But the last ball from Anderson was full and all he could do was to steer it to mid off for a single to leave the scores tied.
"I'm feeling very happy because I did something for my team," Jadeja said. "I was just looking to play each ball as it came.
"Me and Ashwin (65) were playing and talking, saying that we just have to play to the last ball. Unfortunately we didn't cross the line. But we learned a lot from the match and we will just try again next match."
India's pursuit of New Zealand's total of 314, made in exactly 50 overs, was fraught at times. They were 79-4 in the 18th over, having lost their first four batsman, and they seemed to have lost their way before Dhoni revived their innings with his 53rd half century in one day internationals, his second of the series.
Ashwin and Jadeja pushed India closer to what still seemed an unattainable total and finally Jadeja, who took his 66 runs from 45 balls with five fours and four sixes, guided them to a tie.
"I think we batted well," Dhoni said. "But if you're supposed to pick situations where we could have closed the game quite comprehensively, those were the situations we didn't grab.
