From Twitter: Furious fans blame umpire Vineet Kulkarni for India's defeat

Dharamsala, Oct 3: Indian fans were furious with umpire Vineet Kulkarni as they blamed him for India's 7-wicket defeat to South Africa in the first Twenty20 International here last night (October 2).

Series guide" title="Report; Series guide" />Report; Series guide

Chasing 200, South Africa won in the final over with left-hander JP Duminy smashing a match-winning 68 not out. Earlier, Rohit Sharma's brilliant 106 had powered India to 199/5.

JP Duminy plays a shot during the 1st T20I

Duminy was twice, on 5 and 33, reprieved by Indian umpire Kulkarni when it appeared the batsman was out LBW. Later in the post-match presentation ceremony, Indian captain MS Dhoni did not hide his disappointment with the 35-year-old Kulkarni's decisions.

"If decisions don't go in your favour, that also puts pressure and I thought we were unfortunate not to get Duminy," Dhoni said after the loss at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium.

"The game was evenly poised but that's how cricket is, you don't get everything in your favour. But I felt they also batted well, kept the momentum going which is important when you're chasing 200 runs," he added.

Duminy hit 7 sixes and 1 four on way to handing South Africa a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. He was fortunate to have not been sent back to the pavilion twice by Kulkarni.

In the 13th over, he enjoyed a life off left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who he smashed for 3 successive sixes later. Again in the the 17th over with the match interestingly poised, Kulkarni failed to give Duminy out LBW to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Bhuvneshwar, who is always calm, was angry after Kulkarni turned down his LBW appeal. The yorker had hit Duminy's boot and looked heading to the stumps.

Angry Indian fans took to Twitter to slam Kulkarni. Vineet Kulkarni was trending on Twitter last night after the match ended.

Here are some of the reactions

Man of the Match : Vineet Kulkarni, If He Will Be The Umpire For The Next Two T20s, He Can Also Get, Man Of The Series! #IndvsSA
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) October 2, 2015

Vineet Kulkarni is always poor in IPL too. Not sure how he gets an international game.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) October 2, 2015

Morons like Vineet Kulkarni r the reason why Indian umpires never make it to the ICC Elite panel in spite of BCCI being so powerful #IndvsSA
— Abhishek (@ImAbhishek_) October 2, 2015

Vineet Kulkarni has let off Duminy twice thru poor umpirin, yet he has a smirk on his face like he is a Taufel wannabe..Poor umpirin!#IndvSA
— Rohit Paniker (@RohitPaniker) October 2, 2015

Vineet kulkarni is the worst umpire ever. He makes same mistake again and again. Idiot. #IndvsSa
— SUBHRANSHU DASH (@SUBHRANSHUDASH1) October 2, 2015

Vineet Kulkarni is an average umpire. Second decision he got wrong. Not good umpiring material at all.
— Satish Shenoy (@Satish_Shenoy) October 2, 2015