Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 24 : Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the franchise's big buy Cameron Green struck quickfire fifties, while Ramandeep Singh also played a fiery cameo during Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) second intra-squad warm-up match at Kolkata.
On Monday, it was the Golden Knights, led by Rahane, up against the Purple Knights, led by veteran Manish Pandey in action.
The Golden Knights were batting first, with Rahane and New Zealand star Finn Allen as their opening pair. Allen played a cameo of 15-ball 31, which included an audacious ramp that went for six. Rahane played a brilliant knock of 58 in 25 balls, putting on a partnership with Green, who went on to score a 30-ball 52. The Aussie star also put on a partnership with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who scored a 17-ball 23.
Towards the end, Rinku Singh (24 in eight balls) and Ramandeep (42 in 16 balls) played valuable cameos to take the team to 249/5. Umran Malik (0/44 in three overs) had a forgettable outing with the ball.
Purple Knights could only score 188/9 in 20 overs in reply while chasing 190 runs. Tim Seifert (10 in 9 balls) and Rachin Ravindra (3 in 6 balls) had a rusty outing. The uncapped batter Tejasvi Dahiya looked good, but scored just 23. Manish Pandey also scored a decent 22 before Seifert-Rachin had a second go with the bat. While Rachin did not get much success, Seifert made a well-made 42. Rahul Tripathi also scored a quickfire 43.
Blessing Muzarabani (1/41 in four overs) and Kartik Tyagi (three wickets) were impressive with the ball.
KKR will start their campaign against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 in Mumbai.