Hamilton: India have thoroughly outplayed the under-performing hosts in the first Test so far but New Zealand coach Andy Moles is hoping against hopes that his wards might still save the match.

Moles had no hesitation in admitting that the visitors have dominated all three days so far and New Zealand has played itself into a difficult position.

"We find ourselves in a very difficult position. To be honest we have been outplayed for the first three days of the contest. We have to make sure that we come and show some character over the next two days," Moles said.

"We just had a chat about it now. We have underperformed. We dropped four catches and there were balls in the outfield that we should have perhaps cut off. It often happens when you are under the pump and such great players are playing well. But no excuses, we have got a bit of personal pride and we were poor in performance," said Moles.

But he hoped New Zealand could still save the Test. "Certainly, for a start we have got to save the game. I have let the guys know that we need to start doing the basics for longer. We haven't bowled well for long enough periods. We haven't batted well in pairs for long enough. In the field we've been sloppy. Not a very good advertisement for the Test team so far in this game," Moles said.

Asked if he was convinced about Tim McIntosh's catch taken by Sachin Tendulkar in the slip, Moles said, "You all saw the TV shots and yes we would be disappointed. But it is part of the game unfortunately. Tim is trying to make his way in the game and he is desperately disappointed.

"It is one instance out of numerous amounts of cricket played over the last three days and we have not been good enough. When you're not good enough things don't seem to go for you. We have to get better and then things will go our way.

"I think it would be fair to say that we were surprised that it wasn't referred. The guys (umpires) thought they saw it as they did and they made a decision based on what they had seen between them. It is disappointing. But they gave a decision as they saw it and we get on with the game," he said.

Tendulkar, however, was pretty much sure that he had taken the catch clean.

"I was 100 per cent sure that I had caught it clean. Otherwise, I would not have appealed," Tendulkar said.