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Sri Lankan Cricketer Accused of Rape Sees Bail Conditions Eased

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A prominent Sri Lankan cricket player, who had been stuck in Australia for over eight months, has been granted permission for domestic travel following a relaxation of his bail terms.

Danushka Gunathilaka, dressed in black pants and a heavy black jacket, made an appearance at the Sydney Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday to seek leniency regarding his bail conditions.

Gunathilaka, who has maintained his innocence, had been charged with the rape of a woman at her Sydney residence while he was in Australia participating in the T20 World Cup last year.

The cricketer was apprehended and charged in November of the previous year as he was about to return to Sri Lanka alongside his teammates. Consequently, he had been prohibited from leaving the country.

Initially granted bail on November 17 under strict conditions such as surrendering his passport and avoiding international departure points, Gunathilaka, aged 32, approached the court on Tuesday to request a revision of his bail terms. His plea was to allow him to travel within Australia on two separate occasions within the current month.

Acting Judge Graeme Henson consented to temporarily lift the restriction on approaching international departure points for four days this week and another four days at the end of the month. The judge stipulated that Gunathilaka must notify the police at least 48 hours in advance, providing details of his trip’s duration, location, and itinerary for any domestic travel.

However, the 32-year-old cricketer is still required to check in with the police three times a week, and he is limited to possessing only one mobile phone. Additionally, due to the pending allegations, he is prohibited from accessing dating sites or apps.

According to the police’s account, Gunathilaka matched with a woman on a dating app and engaged in several online conversations before meeting in person. After the meeting, they had drinks in the city before heading to the woman’s residence in Sydney’s eastern suburbs around 11 pm, as stated by the police report.

Allegedly, Gunathilaka disregarded the woman’s request to proceed slowly and instead assaulted her sexually within her residence. The police contend that the cricketer engaged in forceful intercourse during which he reportedly choked the woman on three occasions.

The woman expressed to the police that fear had immobilized her, preventing her from taking any action. She claimed that she had only consented to sexual activity with the cricket player under the condition that he use a condom. Later, she found the condom discarded on the floor next to the bed.

The court was informed that the sexual assault charge was connected to “stealing,” which involves the unauthorized removal of a condom during intercourse.

Gunathilaka is scheduled for a trial by a judge alone in September.

Source: The Australian

දූෂණය පිළිබඳ චෝදනාවට ලක්වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයාට ඇප කොන්දේසි ලිහිල් වේ.

මාස අටකට වැඩි කාලයක් ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ සිරවී සිටි ප්රමුඛ ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයෙක් ඔහුගේ ඇප අනුදර්ශන ලිහිල් කිරීමෙන් පසු ගෘහස්ථ සංචාරය සඳහා අවසර ලබා දී ඇත.

පසුගිය වසරේදී විස්සයි විස්ස ලෝක කුසලානයට සහභාගී වූ ඔහු ඕස්ට්රේලියාවෙහි සිටියදී කාන්තාවක් ස්ලොනු නිවසේ කාන්තාවක් දූෂණය කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් චෝදනාවට ලක්ව තිබුණි.

ඔහුගේ කණ්ඩායමේ සාමාජිකයන් සමඟ නැවත ශ්රී ලංකාවට පැමිණී නමුත් ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයා පසුගිය වසරේ නොවැම්බර් මාසයේදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබේ. එහි ප්රතිඵලයක් වශයෙන්, ඔහුට රට හැර යාම තහනම් විය.

ඔහුගේ විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්රය යටත් කිරීම හා ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථානවලට යටත් වීම සහ ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථානවල ලකුණු 32 ක් වැනි දැඩි කොන්දේසි යටතේ මුලින් ඇප ලබා දී ඇති අතර, ඔහුගේ ඇප අනුදර්ශනවල සංශෝධනයක් ඉල්ලා සිටීම සඳහා ගුණතිලක මහතා අඟහරුවාදා පැමිණියේය. ඔහුගේ ආයාචනය නම්, වත්මන් මාසය තුළ අවස්ථා දෙකකදී ඔහුට ඕස්ට්රේලියාව තුළ ගමන් කිරීමට ඉඩ දීමයි.

මේ සතියේ දින හතරක් සහ මාසය අවසානයේ තවත් දින හතරක් සඳහා වූ ජාත්යන්තර පිටත්වීමේ ස්ථාන තාවකාලිකව ඔසවා තැබීමට වැඩබලන විනිසුරු ග්රේට හෙන්සන් ඊට එකඟ වීමට එකඟ විය. විනිසුරුවරයා නියම කළේ ගුණතිලක අවම වශයෙන් පැය 48 කට පෙරව පෙර පැය 48 කට පෙර පොලිසියට දැනුම් දිය යුතු බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, 32 හැවිරිදි ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයාට සතියකට තුන් වතාවක් පොලීසිය සමඟ පොලිසිය සමඟ පරීක්ෂා කිරීම අවශ්ය වන අතර, එක් ජංගම දුරකථනයක් පමණක් සන්තක වීමට ඔහු සීමා වේ. මීට අමතරව, අපේක්ෂිත චෝදනාවරුන් නිසා, ආලය අඩවි හෝ යෙදුම් වෙත ප්රවේශ වීම තහනම්ය.

ගුණතිලක හට සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේ විනිසුරුවරයා විසින් නඩු විභාගයක් පැවැත්වීමට නියෝග කර ඇත.

Cricket

Sri Lanka A prevail in Super Over thriller as tempers flare after dramatic finish

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Sri Lanka A held their nerve to defeat India A in a thrilling Super Over contest in the One-Day Tri-Series in Dambulla, but the dramatic finish was overshadowed by a heated post-match confrontation involving Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Vishen Halambage.

After both teams finished level on 265, Sri Lanka A posted 16 runs in the Super Over through aggressive contributions from Avishka Fernando and captain Sahan Arachchige. India A, chasing 17, were restricted to just nine runs as young pacer Kugathas Mathulan delivered under pressure to seal a memorable victory.

The match had already produced plenty of late drama. India A’s Arshad Khan conceded only four runs in the final over of Sri Lanka’s chase when five were required for victory, forcing the contest into a Super Over as fading light added to the tension. Despite concerns over visibility and a scheduled cut-off time, officials allowed play to continue.


Emotions spilled over moments after the Super Over ended. Visuals showed Sri Lanka’s Vishen Halambage and Wanuja Sahan exchanging words with the departing Indian batters. Suryansh Shedge appeared to point his bat towards Halambage before Sooryavanshi turned back and confronted the Sri Lankan player. The exchange quickly escalated, with the two players shoving each other before wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella stepped in to separate them and calm tempers.

Earlier, India A recovered from 125 for 6 thanks to Suryansh Shedge’s 72 and Vipraj Nigam’s 51 to post 265. Sri Lanka A’s chase was anchored by Sadeera Samarawickrama’s superb 93, which kept them in contention before a dramatic final-over finish and eventual Super Over triumph completed a remarkable contest.

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Cricket

West Indies edge Sri Lanka to clinch series

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West Indies held their nerve in a tense chase to defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the final T20I and seal the series at home on Sunday.

Asked to bat first, Sri Lanka posted a competitive 169 all out in their allotted 20 overs after several batsmen made useful contributions. Opener Pathum Nissanka provided an early spark with 26 off 17 balls, while Kamil Mishara added 28 and Kamindu Mendis struck 20.

The innings was anchored by all-rounder Dunith Wellalage, whose aggressive 43 from 28 deliveries, featuring six boundaries and a six, lifted Sri Lanka during the closing stages. Wanindu Hasaranga also chipped in with a brisk 21 off 13 balls.

However, Sri Lanka lost wickets at crucial intervals and were unable to fully capitalize on a promising platform. Fast bowler Shamar Joseph starred for the hosts, claiming 5 for 33 in a match-winning spell. He received solid support from Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein and Roston Chase, who shared the remaining wickets.

Chasing 170, West Indies suffered an early setback when captain Shai Hope fell for a duck. Sri Lanka tightened their grip further by reducing the hosts to 53 for 4, with Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana applying pressure through the middle overs.

Shimron Hetmyer counterattacked with 32 off 19 balls before Rovman Powell contributed a valuable 33. The decisive partnership came through Sherfane Rutherford and Holder.

Rutherford remained unbeaten on 54 from 40 deliveries, striking three fours and four sixes, while Holder blasted an unbeaten 21 from just five balls, including three towering sixes.
West Indies reached 170 for 5 with two balls to spare, completing a memorable victory and securing the series after a hard-fought contest between the two sides.

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Cricket

Kamil, Shanaka power Sri Lanka to series-levelling win

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A brilliant unbeaten half-century from Kamil Mishara and a destructive late cameo by Dasun Shanaka guided Sri Lanka to a convincing 37-run victory over West Indies and levelled the three match T20 series.

Sri Lanka recovered strongly after a shaky start to post an imposing 194 for 6. Pathum Nissanka fell early for seven, while captain Kusal Mendis made a quick-fire 31 off 19 balls before becoming one of three wickets claimed by Shamar Joseph. When Pavan Rathnayake was dismissed for one, Sri Lanka were struggling at 43 for 3 inside seven overs.
Mishara then steadied the innings with a mature knock, combining caution with aggression. The left-hander remained unbeaten on 61 from 40 deliveries, striking four fours and three sixes. Kamindu Mendis supported him with 24 before Shanaka launched a spectacular assault in the death overs.

The former captain hammered 58 from only 24 balls, smashing five boundaries and four sixes at a strike rate above 240. His 103-run stand with Mishara completely changed the complexion of the innings and propelled Sri Lanka close to the 200-run mark.

Chasing 195, West Indies suffered an early collapse as Brandon King and skipper Shai Hope were both trapped leg-before wicket inside the first two overs. Shimron Hetmyer (36) and Rovman Powell (43) threatened to keep the visitors in contention with an aggressive partnership, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers struck at regular intervals.

Dushmantha Chameera delivered a match-winning spell of 3 for 9, while Wanindu Hasaranga picked up three wickets despite conceding runs. Dunith Wellalage claimed two wickets and Maheesh Theekshana added one as West Indies were bowled out for 157 in 18.1 overs.

The victory ensured Sri Lanka squared the series and set up an exciting decider on Monday.

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