Deceives with bat, slicing through covers (9)
I believe the answer is:
hoodwinks
'deceives' is the definition.
(hoodwinking is a kind of deceiving)
'bat slicing through covers' is the wordplay.
'bat slicing' becomes 'wink' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'through' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters go through the word).
'covers' becomes 'hoods' (hooding is a kind of covering).
'wink' inserted within 'hoods' is 'HOODWINKS'.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hoodwinks that I've seen before include "gulls" , "Bamboozles" , "pulls a fast one" .)