The beauty came in the form of a catch, about an hour after lunch when Ravindra Jadeja soared into the sky, pounced on a rasping shot, overbalanced and still showed the presence of mind to keep the ball alive; he tossed it high into the air, crossed over the line, all in a flash, and returned to complete a spectacular sequence for slow motion television.
Brendon McCullum looked on in disbelief as the replay rolled out on the giant scoreboard; finally, when the truth dawned on him, he walked away, nodding his head in appreciation even as the Indians converged on Jadeja to celebrate the moment. You'd have thought they had just won the World Cup.
Sadly, by then, it was way too late: New Zealand had already taken a stranglehold on the game.
McCullum might have missed his highest Test score by a solitary run; but he had set his team on the road to victory by piling up an aggregate of 503 runs. He was the last man to go, for 224 runs (307b, 29x4, 5x6), to bring the curtain down on a studied innings marked by controlled aggression.
The beast came exactly 5.4 overs later, just as Virat Kohli was settling down for the arduous task of saving India: a stunning drive a few balls earlier confirmed that his mind was right here, and not somewhere on the streets of Auckland; he seemed in perfect nick too as he watched the bowlers carefully, and his feet moved in synchronised efficiency.
Tim Southee breathed extra energy into the ball and it responded in fear: it pitched just short of good length and reared up at Kohli's head, threatening to take it off. India's key batsman backed off at the right moment so save himself, but could not save his wicket.
The ball kissed the extension of his glove, hit his helmet and landed in the safe hands of Fulton at second slip: Kohli too stood in disbelief, gently nodding his head to record disapproval. The giant scoreboard again confirmed that it was a beast of a delivery, and it was a clean dismissal even if he didn't know it himself.
By then, of course, India were already in deep trouble: they had lost Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara to Trent Boult in the opening over itself; now, at 10 for three, they were in dire straits, especially given the team's propensity to collapse at the first hint of bounce.
M Vijay and Rohit Sharma, though, began the rescue act, the second day of the first Test on Friday: they preferred caution to truculence, giving the New Zealand pace quartet and the shining cherry the respect they deserved. As the ball became older, it became clear that the devil was in the mind, rather than in the wicket.
Against the run of play, however, Vijay (26) ran into an extraordinary delivery to see his stumps uprooted; but a watchful and determined Rohit was slowly coming into his own.
Eventually, the beautiful strokes flowed from his willow: a pull, a drive and a soft cut over the cordon. He was unbeaten on 67 (102b, 8x4, 1x6) when poor light cut the day short, with Ajinkya Rahane (23) for company.
India were 130 for 4 at stumps, still 173 short of a follow on.
Earlier, resuming on 329 for four, McCullum and Corey Anderson had to ward off the threat posed by the still-new ball; they did so with utmost care, until the latter was done in by an lbw decision on 77, just when he had cut loose. The New Zealand captain rallied with his tail to add 119 crucial runs more. He completed his double century just the way he reached his hundred: with a six, followed by a four.
India's bowling steadily became unbearable and unwatchable, with more of the short stuff happening. Ishant returned with six for 134 but he needed that beauty from Jadeja to stop McCullum from emerging as a beast.
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