GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) -- Man-of-the-Match Narsingh Deonarine said Saturday's win over Zimbabwe in the second One-Day International had transformed the mood in the West Indies camp.

Without an international win since last June, West Indies broke their losing slump with a jittery, four-wicket victory at the Guyana National Stadium.

"Everyone knows what winning is like. We haven't been winning games for months. We have a victory today and everyone is happy in the dressing room. It feels good," Deonarine said.

West Indies, who were winless in seven limited-matches recently in Australia and twice crashed to defeats against Zimbabwe in the past week, won a hard-fought match with 13 balls remaining after Zimbabwe set them a target of 207.

Deonarine, whose unbeaten 65 was his highest score in 12 One-Day Internationals, helped achieve the victory in partnership with captain Chris Gayle, who made 88.

"I've been playing a lot of good innings. This is a very good innings. I rate it one of my best innings," Deonarine said.

"I just went out there and did my job. The skipper made it easy for me as well. He offered encouragement."

When Deonarine joined Gayle, West Indies were 85 for four in the 26th over and Zimbabwe kept West Indies in check on another slow, turning pitch.

There was a period in which West Indies went a long time without scoring a boundary, but Deonarine never buckled under the pressure.

"I was looking at the game. I had a cool temper. Once the skipper was in there, I just had to work the ball around and keep rotating the strike. There were a lot of overs and balls," the left-hander noted.

"I was very relaxed and comfortable. When you are under pressure, you have to relax yourself and play the game how it should be played."

As his innings went on, he grew in confidence against the Zimbabwe spin-biased attack and eventually struck six fours and a six.

"They (Zimbabwe spinners)are pretty good, but I've played against better spinners than that before, batting against different bowlers like Vettori and Muralitharan," Deonarine pointed out.

"I won't say that these are not good, but you have to play them with confidence. You have to use your feet and work the ball into the gaps."

The third ODI will be played on Wednesday at Arnos Vale in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

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