Cameron Bell replaced the injured Alan Combe in goal and David Mendes
Da Silva, Ben Gordon and James Dayton all made their bows for
Kilmarnock.
The SPL flag was unfurled and, when the action was under way, Beattie
tried to make his mark early on with a lovely cross from the right for
Miller but Bell managed to snuff out the danger before the striker could
connect cleanly with the shot from a few yards out.
Miller - wearing the number 9 jersey following the departure of Kris
Boyd this summer - then saw his header flash wide as Rangers continued
to press for an early opener.
Kirk Broadfoot played a free-kick to Miller on the edge of the box
but his stinging low shot took a massive deflection and fell wide of the
post.
Miller's efforts were finally rewarded when he grabbed the opener
after 16 minutes. Broadfoot's shot was blocked on the line by James
Fowler and his attempted clearance came off Miller who gratefully
bundled home from close range.
Miller proved to be crucial at the back as well when Mendes Da
Silva's corner was met by Fowler and his shot could have found the back
of the net had it not been for a timely block from the striker.
He then attempted to turn provider with a short pass to Beattie who
must have thought he was set to open his account for his new club. But
Bell came to the rescue of Killie when he produced a superb block to
prevent the thunderous point-blank effort from finding the back of the
net.
Beattie squandered another chance to add his name to the scoresheet
within a few minutes of the restart when he took advantage of a stumble
by Frazer Wright before weaving his way into the box only for a weak
stab at goal to be swiped to safety by the goalkeeper.
Lafferty then tried his luck with a powerful shot from distance which
clipped Miller before smacking off the post and out of play, before
Naismith's 25-yard effort was saved by Bell.
Naismith had more luck with 58 minutes gone when Miller lofted the
ball out to the midfielder on the right and he connected well before
dispatching an angled drive into the bottom corner.
However, Killie pulled a goal back two minutes later when referee
William Collum ruled that Sasa Papac had fouled Liam Kelly in the box
and Hamill stepped up to fire a low shot past Allan McGregor from the
penalty spot.
Rangers had the chance to put their visitors under pressure when
Fowler was booked for a challenge on Naismith and Lafferty stood over
the resultant free-kick just outside the box but the big striker lashed
past the upright.
Beattie left the action to the applause of the Rangers support
following a decent debut for the Light Blues when he was replaced by
youngster Kyle Hutton for the last 10 minutes.
Kilmarnock had looked livelier after finding the back of the net but
any hopes they had of causing an opening day shock were dashed as
Rangers held on to open the new season with a win.
