Hamilton (New Zealand), Mar. 20 : New Zealand cricket coach Andy Moles has bemoaned his side''s performance in the first Test against India as a "poor advert" for their skills.

India have totally dominated all but one session of the contest through three days at Seddon Park – when Daniel Vettori and Jesse Ryder scored hundreds on Wednesday''s opening day to resuscitate New Zealand from a parlous 61 for six.

India''s grip tightened today as Sachin Tendulkar''s grafting 160 guided the tourists to a 241-run first innings lead.

New Zealand''s bid to prolong the contest into Sunday''s fifth and final day was then compromised by the loss of three wickets for 75 runs, 166 shy of setting India a target.

"We find ourselves in a very difficult position. We''ve been outplayed for the first three days and we''ve got to make sure we show a bit more character over the next two. We''ve under-performed, we dropped four catches, there were balls in the outfield we should have cut off," NZPA quoted Moles, as saying.

The quality of New Zealand''s performance was unacceptable, he added.

"We haven''t bowled well enough for long enough periods, we haven''t batted well enough on pairs and we''ve been sloppy in the field. It''s not a very good advert for the test team so far in this game," he said. (ANI)