Take a knock sportingly (3)

I believe the answer is:

bat

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'knock sportingly' is the definition.
'bat' can be an answer for 'knock' (thesaurus). I am unsure of the 'sportingly' bit.

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bat that I've seen before include "Small flying mammal, may be vampire" , "Small flying mammal - like 11 Across" , "Cricket, table-tennis and baseball implement" , "A mammal; a club" , "Small mammal or cricket striker" .)

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.