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6 min read

Polling vs WebSockets for Live Scores

When to poll a REST cricket API vs build WebSocket infrastructure for live scores.

Polling advantages

Simple to implement, works with any REST API, easy to cache, survives connection drops. Poll every 10–30s with server-side proxy for most cricket apps.

WebSocket advantages

Lower latency for push updates, efficient for many subscribers to the same match. Requires your own pub/sub layer since most cricket APIs are REST-only.

Recommendation

Start with polled REST + Redis cache. Add WebSockets on your backend only when you need sub-second push to thousands of concurrent users per match.

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