Takes a knock (4)
I believe the answer is:
bats
'takes' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'a knock' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'bts' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bats that I've seen before include "Hits" , "Very eccentric" , "Cuckoo" , "Bonkers (sl.)" , "Cricketers" .)