<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>A Sri Lankan cricketer was arrested and charged Sunday over the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney, police said, just hours after the national team lost to England in the Twenty20 World Cup.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was widely identified in local media as batsman Danushka Gunathilaka, who was ruled out of the World Cup during the first round with a hamstring injury.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The 31-year-old was replaced in the squad but remained with the team in Australia.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Sex Crimes Squad detectives have charged a Sri Lankan national following an investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney's east last week," New South Wales police said in a statement, without naming the man.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police said the pair met after communicating for several days on a dating app.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday November 2, 2022," the statement said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The man was arrested at a hotel in Sydney in the early hours of Sunday morning and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He was refused bail.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Left-handed opener Gunathilaka made his international debut in 2015 and has played eight Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20s. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>