Sri Lankan cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka allegedly told a Tinder date not to worry and that she wouldn't get pregnant before he removed a condom during sex.
The 32-year-old sportsman matched with the woman on the dating app on October 29, 2022 and met her for the first time four days later at Sydney's Opera Bar.
The pair later went back to the woman's eastern suburbs home, where he is accused of raping her through the act of "stealthing", which involves removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the other person's knowledge.
Gunathilaka has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said he forcefully kissed her and slapped her buttocks on the way home that night, and then choked her two or three times while smirking during sex.
"I remember trying to remove his hand from my throat," she said on Monday at the start of a NSW District Court trial.
"I felt fearful for my life at this point."
She said she wanted to get away but couldn't because he was on top of her.
The court was told there was no suggestion any sexual activity that took place on the night was non-consensual besides the alleged stealthing.
Crown prosecutor Gabrielle Steedman said that just because someone consented to one type of activity did not mean they agreed to others.
In her evidence, the woman said Gunathilaka was adamant he did not want to wear the condom despite her insistence that he do so.
He allegedly told her not to worry, adding: "I won't get you pregnant, darling".
"'Don't you trust me? You should trust me'," the woman said Gunathilaka told her on the night.
Ms Steedman told Judge Sarah Huggett the woman noticed the used condom on the floor a few seconds after he had stopped having sex with her.
"The complainant says she was in complete shock," the prosecutor said.
The alleged removal of the condom and his other behaviour on the night showed the cricketer did not care about or respect the woman's wishes, Ms Steedman said.
The following day on November 3, the woman said she woke to find her lips and breast bruised, and took the day off work after crying uncontrollably on a park bench near her home.
In an interview with police soon after his arrest at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on November 6, Gunathilaka denied removing the condom, saying he had put on a second one because the first "was not good".
A search by police of the woman's home found only one condom, which contained DNA profiles that matched both him and her.
Gunathilaka's barrister Murugan Thangaraj SC said there were questions about whether the complainant was a credible witness.
When first speaking to her friends soon after the incident and then to a doctor, she made no reference to the condom being removed, he said.
The detail was only mentioned when she spoke to police on November 5, the court was told.
The woman told the court she had made up a response to questions allegedly from the cricketer, that they had known each other in a past life.
She said she wanted to placate him after the sexual activity.
But Mr Thangaraj questioned this, suggesting she was the one to raise the topic, saying she had grown up with the teachings of the Indian guru Sai Baba and believed she had the power to see the past lives of others.
"You closed your eyes and told him that in a previous life the two of you knew each other?" the barrister asked.
"No, that is not correct," the woman replied.
"And that is when Mr Gunathilaka said that he had to go," the barrister added.
"I didn't say that to him," the woman repeated.
The judge-alone trial continues on Tuesday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
